Time for our second round of Camp GLOW! Sunday morning I left Dogbo with my 5 best and brightest girl students and we crossed the south of Benin to arrive in Porto Novo for our one week of Camp GLOW (Girls Leading our World). So far, so great! The ambassador came to our opening ceremony on Monday morning and all the speakers so far have been really interesting. Yesterday and today are packed full with field trips to the National Assembly, a sustainable agriculture center, and an internet cafe to learn about computers. In between the learning, we've got arts and crafts and of course the girls can never get enough of singing, dancing, playing, and just laughing and smiling. My five girls have been great so far and I'm really proud of all of them. Everyone is pretty much in agreement that my littelest one, Edwige, is the cutest one of them all, and she's such a little firecracker! Students like that are reasons I hate to think of leaving Benin.

Ugh...I wanted to post pictures, but this computer wont let me!! boooo

Anyway, while camp is going great I just got some potentially bad news that I might not be replaced in Dogbo. This is devastating for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is that I've already told my school administration and all of my colleagues that I am being replaced, as well as neighbors and friends. Everyone was looking forward to having a new volunteer, and I know especially my colleagues will be very disappointed. I think the school administration and definitely my counterpart, Mr. Michael, will probably feel ashamed as if they did something wrong, which they absolutely did not.

The second reason it's horrible is because it means I have to empty my house, which is filled with lots of furniture and other things. Not only will it be time consuming, but the idea of giving things away is more exhausting than words can describe. I honestly don't think anyone who hasn't been here can understand me when I say giving things away is a horrible experience here and in general PCVs hate the thought of doing it, especially on such a large scale. The greediness and sense of entitlement with which people often approach a white person giving gifts is disheartening and angering. I'm already sad that my last few weeks will likely be tainted by such circumstances.

This news has come as a complete shock to me and I feel a little insulted that my boss told me I would be replaced and never actually informed me when she changed her mind. Luckily I heard it through the rumor mill, but even when I directly inquired I got a vague response. Of course there is still a chance they'll decide to use Dogbo, but based on their indecisiveness, I'm inclined to think no. For now, I'll just have to wait and see.

Well, I’ve got some time and a computer in front of me, so it’s time to write one of those thousands of blog entries that always ran through my head but never got to a computer to write. So I think it’s a pretty common random fact that scent is the sense strongest tied to memory. When I lived at home, the only scent that ever did it to me was Raspberry Rain Skintimate shower shave gel- the basement bathroom of Spanish summer camp every time. After living in a place completely new to all of my senses, I can say that it is absolutely true and always a very comforting surprise (almost right up there with the excitement and comfort of mail, almost). For a strange, inexplicable split second, I could be a thousand miles away 20 years ago. I even see the images of the place in my head.

Some are a little more common. Deodorant has brought me to Walgreens more than once, more the smell of the bottle though, not the actual deodorant. At the beginning I often went to my Dad’s cousins’ house (Jeff and Lynn) in Florida when I ran past the carpenter in the morning and had a particularly strong whiff of the sawdust. Sometimes it was my own dad’s handyman workshop though. Maybe that depended on the wood? Sometimes when I’m cooking I’ll be with my mom in the kitchen, but if it’s roasted onions it’s usually my aunt’s cooking, at her old house though, for Christmas or some other holiday. Disney World comes to me sort of frequently too, I think, though I can’t remember what has ever triggered it.

One extremely memorable time I was showering and out of nowhere for one second came something like grape juice, and I was suddenly in my old babysitter’s living room. I only went there until I was three. I hadn’t even remembered what the living room looked like, until that day in the shower. They sell dill or pickle flavoured Pringles here in Benin, and PCVs are unanimously in agreement that the inside of the can smells EXACTLY like Home Depot. Sawdust and plastic. The smell is fun, but as I’m sure you could imagine, they taste horrendous.

The best ones are so random, like my babysitter’s house, and they come and leave as quick as a dream. I even had one so super random this morning, but like a dream, it has escaped my memory now. I don’t remember where it was, but I thought, really?!? Where on Earth did that come from?? Sometimes it’s a random day in 1st grade, or maybe 10th. Sometimes it’s a birthday party or hiking trip. I can never duplicate it or predict it, and sometimes I can’t even detect any change in the smells around me that could have prompted it.

Whatever it is, I’ll surely miss it when I go. I don’t think it will happen so much at home, being back in a place so familiar to my senses. I only hope that every once in while my nose will catch something and I’ll be brought back here to Benin :-).

Well, it's official. I'm leaving Benin on August 11th and flying home to Chicago! In order to get all the administrative stuff done and also see my host family in Porto Novo before I go, I'll be moving out of my home in Dogbo on August 5th. Exactly 2 months from tomorrow. Funny how we were all so excited to get our dates at our close of service conference, but as soon as we got them, the terror and panic creeped in right next to the excitement and anticipation.

Now it's all just wrapping up and saying my goodbyes. I've already started informing my colleagues, neighbors, and friends of the date. I've even starting telling my marché mamas, even though none of the speak french and I don't know how to say I'm leaving August 5th in Aja. Do they even have calendars? haha, oh well, I can tell by their sad expressions that they understand. It's really sad, but really sort of fulfilling at the same time, to realize that I do actually have people I really want to say goodbye to and will be sad to leave behind. A year ago at this time I asked a 2nd year volunteer if she was ready to go, and she said no because she still had so many people to say goodbye to. "You actually have people to say goodbye to??" I couldn't believe it, at that point I wouldn't have. It's amazing how it hasn't been until my second year that I feel like I've really made real connections with people.

Yesterday was my last day of class. School isn't over because we've still got exams and giving grades, but my last lesson as an English teacher in Benin is over and done. I can't say that I'll be sad to leave many school frustrations behind, but I will be sad to leave the students behind. I'll never know which few of them will continue and graduate and go onto university. And I don't even want to think of the rest of their English education!!!! haha...

Despite all the goodbyes it is still of course a very exciting time, and I've got to start job hunting and then looking into grad schools. I've also got our girls summer camp, Camp GLOW to look forward to in a few weeks!

Well, it has been raining for the last 8 hours and I think it just let up so I can walk home to make dinner. It is officially rainy season because we've had cloud cover for the last 4 days and I can actually leave my house in the afternoons :-).

Lastly- I DO plan on bringing Jasper home if he can manage to stay alive and healthy until then. It's hard to imagine re-adjusting without him. I hope he likes the snow :-)

So apparently Tuesday was Arbor Day. How, you ask, did I know it was Arbor Day? I knew it was Arbor Day because I showed up to school to find that they had sent all the students home. Why, you ask, did they send all the students home on Arbor Day? Well, they sent all the students home to go plant trees. Right, because any child sent home from school is going to go home and plant trees. Right.

I just smiled, chuckled, and went home. Look how far I've come.

I finally finished uploading my Mali pictures to facebook, and I also put up other pictures since January, including some Take Our Daughters to Work Day. Check 'em out-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=193572&id=507819223&l=fa724468a4

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=214367&id=507819223&l=c4c81c043c

Last week I began my 3 pm class on Thursday afternoon with menacing clouds in the distance. Luckily they hadn’t arrived yet or else my students definitely wouldn’t have. Anyway, I began my lesson and hurried to get through as much as possible before the clouds broke and rain on the tin roof drowned out any hope of the students hearing me. Even though the rain would halt my lesson I was still excited for it to come and wash away the oppressive heat. Unfortunately, the once black and menacing clouds arrived a dull gray and didn’t treat us to much rain, just a small drizzle for while.

When the rain started, the sun was still brightly shining from the other side of the sky. So as my students quietly copied down clothes vocabulary (trousers, NOT pants of course, for British English) I started scrambling across the room trying to look out the holes between the straw walls and cement beams for a rainbow in the sky. I couldn’t find one but figured I ought to explain to the kids what I was doing. Luckily just the week before I had given them color-by-number rainbow worksheets (thanks mom!) to teach them colors. I had a student pull theirs out to explain that’s what I was looking for and asked if they knew what it was. “Ah hah!! Oui, oui, Madame, we know, we know.” I was about to explain the pot of gold and all when one boy said quite loudly, “Le serpent!! Sorcerie!!” All the kids laughed at the shock on my face and when I emphatically replied “What?? No!!!” I explained that we believe there is a pot of gold at the end of it and it’s very good luck. He just kept saying, no no, it’s bad, it’s sorcery. He wasn’t arguing with me, he just continued with his work and quietly repeated, no no no. Eventually I knew it was a battle I’d never win if the discussion was between good and evil, so I just said “ugh, it’s all science anyway and none of these stories are real!!!” I doubt they had any clue what this science was I was talking about, and I know the other students enjoyed my story, but my bet is at the end of the day they still all believed in his.

I'm down in the capital right now and unfortunately I'll have to be coming down every weekend for 5 out of the next 6 weeks for work and meetings. Boo to so much travel! But I suppose it's good I'll be keeping myself busy and passing the time.

One big reason for so much time here is to prepare my project "Take Our Daughters to Work Day". In conjunction with a big fundraiser dinner I'm helping to organize for Saturday, May 8th, we decided to invite some girls down from our villages to accompany professional Beninese women to work on Friday the 7th. Then, I'll be running a seminar for the girls to talk about career and education planning on the 8th and they'll give a short presentation about their experience to the dinner guests on Saturday night. The dinner is to raise awareness and funds for our Gender and Development Program and I'm excited that attendees will actually get to meet some women and girls who have benefitted from one of our projects.

It's all very exciting, actually. The whole project is in partnership with an NGO called Maman Modeles. It's comprised of professional woman located around the country and its been fun to meet some of them and see how much enthusiasm and energy they have for the project. Take Our Daughters to Work used to be a huge project for over 50 girls funded by USAID and run by Peace Corps Volunteers, but when USAID cut funding the project ended in 2003. My boss and the Maman Modeles were very excited and willing when I approached them with the idea of restarting it on a smaller scale (we'll have 8 girls this year). We held essay competitions for 3rd year secondary school girls in which they had to write about what woman they admire and why. Just yesterday I met with a Maman Modele to choose our 8 winners from amongst 38 entries. I've spent the rest of my time here writing up permission slips, grant proposals, and schedules, and I think it's already to go now until our big event! I'll be bringing 3 girls from Dogbo so I'll have to notify them and visit their parents for permission this week.

One of the most encouraging (and easy) things about this project is the history of the project itself. I found out from my boss that multiple girls who participated in 1999 and 2000 actually kept in touch with their Maman Modeles, finished their educations through university, and then their Maman Modeles helped them find professional jobs and relocate here to Cotonou. One of our Maman Modeles this year was actually a participating girl herself in 1999. Now she's a popular news reporter on one of the 3 major channels here in Benin. I'm jealous of whatever girls gets to spend Friday with her and the news crew!!

So, lots of time in Cotonou devoted to that, but also planning for our summer camps, a regional rep meeting with admin, and then, maybe the most exciting thing is 19th-22nd of May we have our official Close of Service Conference. It's at one of the nicest hotels in Cotonou with a full pool, AC, and CNN! I'll also be getting my official date for home at that point and then it'll be less than 3 months til the end. Crazy how time flies and it's all almost over! On the other hand, at this point I'm starting to look for and apply for jobs and I'm just getting anxious to get home to friends and family. Luckily all this weekend business will help the time fly by even faster and hopefully all of our projects will work out great in the meantime!

Hello, hello. Sorry it’s been a while, but electricity and internet continue to be in and out in Dogbo. As for the newest school drama, last week a first year boy grabbed his professor by the collar and then all the teachers decided to leave their classes in the middle of class and have a meeting. I didn’t go immediately when I was summoned because I was in the middle of a quiz. When I arrived 20 minutes later they had already drafted a letter to the administration declaring a 2 day strike against the students. Just as I walked up we began our group march to the administration building to present the letter in solidarity. We even “stood in the sun to show them our suffering!!” All I could do was roll my eyes and chuckle. As Peace Corps Volunteers, we are not allowed to go on strike, since its usually about pay and benefits we don’t receive (some fellow volunteers have been the only profs teaching at their schools for over 6 weeks due to strikes in the North). But, seeing as how I myself also think students at my school are out of control and the administration is not as strict as it should be, I decided to join in (and also just for amusement).

Even though I joined in, I did still feel torn about the situation. I definitely agree that something needs to be done, but I couldn’t help but see their behavior as totally juvenile. It reminded me of my own students striking against me just 2 weeks before. Granted it was much quieter and “official” in their eyes, but it offered no real solution or suggestion for improvement. It also lacks the self-reflection necessary to really confront such a problem. Unfortunately I didn’t (and still don’t) have any other option to present to these 30 professors at the time. It’s just part of a much bigger problem that I wouldn’t even know where to start, and nobody would have been willing to listen to.

I must admit that my general attitude towards life here has not been fantastic lately. My friend Dennis made a really interesting observation that our outlook as volunteers seems to come full circle during our time here. I think in a lot of ways he’s right. We arrive to find so much confusing, frustrating, and often non-sensical. But as time goes on we work so hard to become understanding of their culture and ways of life. We have no choice but to accept what we find and do our best to affect change within these systems. But now as the clock ticks on and we’ve become so comfortable here, it’s starting to become frustrating all over again. After accepting things and trying to work with them sometimes you just want to yell and say…”I know you do it that way, but that’s just ridiculous!!” Beninese people love to say “this is Africa” whenever anything goes wrong, they are resigned to accept it, and tell each other to do the same. As volunteers of course we know we’re here to affect change, if only so small, but all too often, the people themselves don’t even believe it’s possible, or worth it.

A picture of the cliffside ruins in Dogon

Looking down from the ruins to a current village

Ryan crossing a crevice on a wooden ladder!!

On top of the plateau- gorgeous!! Notice the village to the back left, it's where we're headed for the night!

So, my great friend Ryan from Michigan State is quite the adventurer and ever since I applied he always promised, and I always knew, that he was coming to visit wherever I was headed. Well...after much waiting and lots of vaccinations, he finally made it! He arrived the 12th of February and then our adventures began... Unfortunately right after his arrival we were robbed (the emotional ramifications will no doubt come up in future blogs, but for right now, lets focus on the rest of the trip!). Luckily they just grabbed my phone and a bit of my money and by that time lots of people came running to help us and the guys fled. So, no real harm done, and we headed on to Dogbo the same day.

It was market day when we arrived, so I took him around and made him taste all the delicious snacks and he picked out tissue to have an outfit made. We spent the next few days just hanging out in Dogbo. He was able to come to class and geography club with me. We also had a big dinner with the other Yovos of Dogbo and perhaps one of the biggest highlights was the time we spent with some of my English colleagues. I invited all of them over, but really only my best friends showed up, which I preferred. I had told them before hand, only English!!! So they were so excited and we had a lot of fun just chatting for a bit and talking about the States. Other than that, we mostly just spent the days relaxing and doing what I do, going to the market, going on walks with Jasper, and saying hi to people. Oh! One other huge highlight was the buying, killing, and cooking of chickens for dinner. Ryan really wanted to say he'd killed a chicken for dinner, so I enlisted my student friend Winnie (the girl who watches Jasper) to help us. We went with her to buy the chickens and then we watched as her and her friends killed, cleaned, and cut them up. Ryan wanted to kill one, but at the moment of truth couldn't bring himself to do it, so we just laughed and watched and he took lots of pictures, haha. He was also so so impressed that Winnie is only 14 years old and prepared our entire meal all by herself without her mom around (her mom fries food on the corner nearby every afternoon and evening, so Winnie does the cooking). We had to go home to pack, but returned later to eat the full meal with the family, which was lots of fun and I'm glad I got to spend that time with them. And Ryan got to wear his new tissue (African fabric) suit to dinner!

After our escapades in Dogbo we headed North to Burkina Faso and Mali! Our destination was Dogon Valley in Southern Mali. The Dogon people have lived among the cliffs of the plateau since the 14th century. They used to literally live on the cliffs, but now there are many villages scattered on the desert floor next to them and also on top of the plateau. We went on a trekking trip, which basically means we backpacked our away along the edge of the plateau staying at different villages along the way. We departed for the Dogon region from the town of Bankass by horsecart. After about 2.5 hrs moving through the semi-desert with strong winds, hot hot sun, and sands blowing like crazy we reached a village at the base of the plateau. We had lunch there and then waited out the afternoon heat until about 4 or so. We then climbed up to see ancient ruins of a village that once existed on the cliff side. It's actually a UNESCO site now, so they have paid the villagers to repair many of the huts and graineries to their original condition. While they have repaired the huts, it was still amazing to hear that these mud bricks have been standing for centuries. The cliff hangs over the location of the village, so no rain was able to reach the houses and slowly wash away the mud.

After we climbed back down we trekked on flat sand to the next village and our shelter for the night. They have a developed system of guides and "campements" which are basically little "authentic" hotels. They prepare all your food and you get a little hut for the night. The most awesome part is that you get to sleep on the flat roofs under the stars. The first night on the bottom of the plateau the wind was crazy and we were basically eating sand though, haha, so I had to descend and sleep inside.

The next morning we trekked flat across the sand again and after a 6 hour rest to escape the sun, we climbed up the plateau! It was such an awesome hike and exactly what I had hoped for. The Dogon people have been there so long and are so accustomed to going up and down themselves that they have laid out paths of rocks all the way up. There are some places where you have to climb over crevices in the rock hundreds of feet deep with wooden ladders that they have resting from one side to another. It was intense, but awesome!

Our climb up would definitely be rated as difficult, but once we reached the top of the plateau it was such a different world. In valleys on the top they cultivate lush green gardens with tons of vegetables and herbs. You'll be hiking up all this rock and suddenly come into flat valley and see people watering their plants with calabashes filled with water. It must be tedious work, and they do it twice a day, but seeing how green they were made it seem so worth it.

On our third day we made the hike down and took a horse cart back out into Bankass and from there began our long journey back to Cotonou, Benin. Dogon Valley was absolutely amazing, but unfortunately the 3 days of bush taxi to arrive in Mali and the 3 days back were incredibly exhausting and of course trying at times. Luckily, we met up with some Burkina and Benin PCVs on the way down which made it easier and more enjoyable. It was fun to have more people to talk to, but more people also means more people to fill up a mini bus so we could leave sooner. And since we were on a tight schedule to make Ryan's flight on Saturday night, we couldn't afford to wait another day for any taxi to fill.

Despite some setbacks and annoyances along the way, overall it was a great adventure. I had lots of fun with Ryan and he most definitely got the intense experience he was looking for! haha...I also have returned to Benin much more thankful for many things here. One thing is the existence of taxi motos that are everywhere and can get you somewhere cheap and fast. Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina Faso) had no such thing and made getting around the city difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Even our inter-city taxi system is much busier and thus I'm not used to waiting 6 hours for a taxi to fill up and go. Another thing to love about Benin is its food! Food up north was much less spicy and street snacks were much more difficult to come by. A bag of water is also half the price here! (not surprising since Mali is practically desert, but still).

I know there are 5,000 more details to give, but unfortunately I've got to be getting back to post. After getting halfway there yesterday afternoon I realized that my keys were in the office and I had to come back :-(. I just want to be with my puppy, but atleast you've all now gotten a few blog updates! Continue reading below to hear about school...

As for my students on strike, the administration took their time dealing with the problem since classes technically weren't in session when their strike and series of shananagans happened (it was grade calculating time). I unfortunately did not attend (nor was I invited) to the meeting my counterpart had with admin to discuss their punishments, but he later explained it all to me. Unfortunately none of the punishments are directed just at the troublemakers, but rather the entire group of 45 must endure them. I feel really horrible about that, but of course there is nothing I can do. And so here they are- 1- The first week classes resume (this week), the class will not spend anytime in class, but will spend 8-12 and 3-7 everyday doing physical labor around the school yard. 2- The first schoolwide flag raising ceremony after the break (which was yesterday), the class must spend the entire ceremony kneeling on the rocky ground to show their shame to the rest of the school. 3- The class' conduct grade for both semesters of the school year is 10. The conduct grade is averaged in with all other subjects and counts as a subject in itself. It usually begins at 18 and sometimes is lowered to 16 or 15 for troublesome classes. A 10 is basically unheard of. 4- The entire set of upper-level classes also has a larger conduct grade they share, and this grade for all other upper-level classes will be lowered as well. 5- All parents were informed that if their students cause further problems this year they will be expelled. Unfortunately the school doesn't actually have the power to do that, but hopefully the parents and students don't know that? I think there was another thing or two, but I can't remember right now. Overall, I know these are really harsh punishments but I wish they were actually targeting the troublesome students.

As for me, my counterpart informed me how lucky we are that the students blocked the class and refused to enter the day of the strike. Apparently later in the week they attacked their philosophy teacher with some sort of itchy/stinging powder blown all over his arms. He had to leave immediately and go pour oil over it to sooth it. The powder comes from a local plant, and while for me that sounds annoying and bad enough, for them it is also seen as a voodoo spiritual attack. My administration decided to immediately remove me from this class for my own security and safety, but my counterpart will continue with them. During the strike they were calling for him to leave and me to stay, so admin and my counterpart are in agreement that he must stay to teach the students a lesson and not give them what they want. Furthermore, he explained to me that its better now, because "its black on black now". He comes from Ouidah, the birthplace of Voodoo in Benin, and he informed me that he is not afraid of them and knows how to protect himself.

Not only does the voodoo leave much of this out of my realm of comprehension, but my Peace Corps boss (who is also Beninese) also enlightened me to the fact that this is likely a highly politically charged situation. She said that some other teachers probably encouraged the students to act in this way in order to get my counterpart fired. When she told me that, it made so much sense based on comments he had been making. So really all of this has just been way over my head, which is probably why admin didn't really talk to me that much about it. Well...I'm happy to leave them behind and focus on my first years and helping my other colleagues!

In geography club news- When I was home over xmas I found $1 globes at Target and had my friend Ryan fly them over from the states. He got here a few weeks ago and when he came to the club with me we handed them out. The kids were so excited!! Stupid Target though, about 5 of the globes were totally smashed up inside the boxes, even though the boxes themselves never got smashed and looked fine. I know they were only $1, but I flew them around the world and the kids who opened them were so sad :-(. Luckily I have just enough extra so that everyone can get a good one! With Ryan we did the US and they were so excited to see US money. This week will be Egypt and next week Mexico!

Knowledge and fact are sort of subjective things here in Benin. I can ask 5 different people when the rainy season will start and one will tell me "oh, soon. it will come, it will come", one would say April, another May, and someone else would just say, oh well, a month or two after the heat starts. So much is based on personal opinion and perspective that it's often hard to get a true or concrete response to any question. This only becomes more frustrating when a real problem exists that needs to be solved, such as my issues in November with the post office being closed for over 2 weeks. Nobody even noticed or cared enough to find out why or tell any authorities about it (I'm the one who informed the mayor's office that sits just next door).

Well, this phenomenon has only become more amusing to me in the last 2 weeks because the entire South-Western part of Benin has been having huge issues with power outages. It's normal for the power to go out for maybe an hour or two at a time, but we've been having 12 to 16 hour outages with only a few hours of power in between. The first full day everyone was a little surprised and the giant game of telephone began! When I left school at the end of the day I started hearing all sorts of stories from colleagues and neighbors. One said we were being punished for political reasons. Another stated vehemently that it would remain out for 4 days straight (it came on about 4 hours later). There were reports of it out in all big neighboring towns on the highway, but then others said it was already out in Cotonou and the entire country. Some said power was cut from Ghana because our government didn't pay for it. Radio stations were apparently announcing all sorts of random things as well, just to add to the confusion.

Despite having been here for 19 months...we still totally fell for it! All the volunteers in my region were texting each other to complain about the outages and see if anyone knew why. Turns out we exchanged our local "theories" and none were even remotely similar! We also texted volunteers in Cotonou and the North and of course they all had plenty of electricity. So...here we are 2 weeks later and the outages continue! I have no idea why, but I think by now everyone is thinking it does have something to do with power coming from Ghana. I think it's basically like a rolling black-out situation. Anyway, it's really quite obnoxious and the hard part is that my part of Dogbo is on a hill and is mostly pump water (not wells), so once the power goes out, the water is cut an hour or two later because the water in the system runs out.

In other news, the first semester is officially over this week, I can't even believe it! Crazy how it's going so fast and quickly approaching the end :-(. I was looking at my lesson book from last year and realized that up until this point so far this year, I have given 27 lessons, but the ENTIRE second semester last year I only gave 9 lessons total. Due to the school breaks and exams it's really barely any class time, and it's pretty ridiculous. But then of course the 2nd semester grades count twice as much towards their final grade at the end of the year, even though they barely do even half the amount of work!

So we spent this last week giving the kids the final calculations of their semester grades. My two classes of first years did really fantastic, I'm so proud and it was so cute to see them light up when they saw their grades. Passing is 10, and I gave lots of 14s, 15s, and 16s. For most this is their first year of school and I saw that their grades in other classes are rarely above 10, and never above 12 if that. I'm happy to see that they all have been doing well even though I think I've been being harder on them recently.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for my 5th year students. Only about 8 of the 40 received passing grades, but even worse is--- get this--- they are on strike against me and the other professor I teach the class with. I give participations grades to all of my classes which get averaged in as quiz grade. For almost all of my students (including most of the 5th years), this grade increases their overall average and is often higher than one or both of their written quiz grades. Well, all of the students who received failing participation grades also happen to be the troublemakers (surprise, surprise), and the day of grade giving they started shouting and refusing to accept the grades. The system has been well explained and clear since the beginning and unfortunately they took it open themselves to try to "solve" this issue by then blocking the door with benches and desks the next day and declaring a strike. Since we aren't "technically" in class time (they stop class for 2 weeks for grade calculation), the administration hasn't sought fit to address the issue or the students at all. Honestly, I'm not too worried about it...the grades are in the book and the principal says they stay!!

In happier (and much less stressful) news, my friend Ryan is flying in tonight!! We're spending the week in Dogbo and starting our trip to Burkina Faso and Mali on Friday. It should be great!

I brought back a baby wild animals calendar with me ($1 at Target) for 2010 and put it on the wall right by my front door. The picture for January is a lion cub and it even says in large letters- LION, which is the same word in French. So far, three people have seen it and asked if it's a picture of my dog from the states. Gets me every time.

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My dad bought me a blow-up globe to use with my geography club and we used it for the first time last week. While one boy went to the road to get it pumped full of air I taped my world map to the chalkboard. We started naming the continents and oceans. Most of them didn't know them, but atleast everyone could find Africa right in the center and had an idea of where the Americas and Asia sort of were. Well, in comes the globe. First, I had a little boy stand up and act as my 'sun' and I explained that the world was round and rotated around it. I ran around him and said...this is one year! They were full of oohs and ahhs.

The thing that really struck me however, was that once we started playing with the globe, they lost all sense of direction and location of the continents. We stood up in a circle and played a game where you name a continent or ocean, throw it to a friend, and they have to find it on the globe. They ended up turning the globe every which way and in some cases even had trouble finding Africa. It was amazing to see how working hands-on with a 3D object was really a new sort of experience for them. Given that their classrooms have no walls and no floors, of course they have no blocks or legos or balls to ever get them use to spatial reasoning. But it was fun to watch them have fun with it anyway and get so excited just to hold and touch it.

While I was home I found mini-globes in the $1 section of Target!!! I bought about 25 and I'm having my friend Ryan bring them over to Benin next month when he comes to visit. I can't wait!!!! Especially now that I see how much they are going to learn from them just by being able to take them home and play with them all on their own.

***

We've all heard about the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti and even many Beninese people know about it from the TV. A lot of them think Haiti is in Africa though, maybe because they know it's French speaking and see darker colored people on TV. Anyway, another PCV said that people told him that lots of Beninese people in Cotonou and another big town of Bohicon are sleeping outside now because they think the earthquake is going to come here to Benin and they know they'll be safer outside. He explained it's far away, and they don't have to worry, and he even made the huge mistake of trying to get into plate tectonics. I told him he should have just told them the bad "gri gri" couldn't come this far :-).

So there are a couple of missing entries to fill in the past 2 months...most importantly...I went home!! Spending 3 weeks at home for Christmas and New Years was amazing, delicious, freeeeezing cold, and refreshing. Overall, the weirdest thing about being back was that it didn't feel that weird at all. The first time I approached the dishwasher and the washing machine I admit I was apprehensive for a split second about all the buttons, but all of a sudden my fingers knew exactly what they were doing. My first night home I did have a moment of wonderment at my parents "five fires" on their stovetop. I even said out loud to them, "Oh my god, do you realize you have five fires right here?" Of course it was the family joke for the rest of my stay. By the end I got to spend lots of time with my friends and family and I was so exhausted that all I could think about was getting back to my puppy and my couch in Dogbo!

For about 2 weeks now I have been back to Benin, and I couldn't have been happier when I got back. I was just so excited to realize that Dogbo really does feel like home to me, too. Sort of like returning to the dorms in college after break, I think. In the plane coming into Cotonou from Paris I looked up and saw the stars in the first time for 3 weeks and realized how much I missed them. When I arrived I also noticed a scab from a scratch on my foot- I didn't even know I had scratched it. In the cold winter weather I hadn't been able to pay any attention to my body because all I wanted to do was cover it with layer after layer of clothes!

Despite all of my joy for returning to my life here in Dogbo, this past week has been a lot more difficult due to 2 unfortunate events. The first being that last Sunday my postmate and one of my best friends here, Catherine, left for home for good. She has been in 3 moto accidents in the last 8 months and found transportation to be too difficult for her to continue her time here. We all already miss her, and it will be harder for me now that I won't have her in Dogbo to relax with on a bad day. At the same time, I know it was the right decision for her and I wish her all the luck with moving back!

The second unfortunate event happened last Sunday as well, the day of Catherine's departure. Three volunteers coming down from the North were in a huge bus accident when their bus collided with a semi-truck head on. Miraculously none of them were seriously hurt, but people in the rows directly in front of them were actually killed. Understandably this sort of event has all of the PCVs a bit shaken up, but truthfully there is nothing we can do. The bus is still undoubtedly the safest mode of transport and we all knew the risk existed- it's just a bit more real to us now.

So, this last week wasn't quiet as great as the first, but I'm trying to focus on the positive and remember why I was so excited to come back. I think that one of the biggest realizations I've had since going home is just that this experience is almost over. It's only a few months until the end, and those months are jam-packed with event after event. Right now it's a little exciting to think about what's next, but also scary and overwhelming and mostly just sad to think about leaving friends and life here. It is possible for us to extend a 3rd year in Benin or another country if we want, but I think I want to go back to apply for grad school next fall. Of course it's all still up in the air, but if I do decide to finish this year I will get my official date of departure in late May. So stay tuned for that!!

Teach a bunch of 10th graders how to use if clauses and then ask them to write a paragraph about what they would do if they had 5,000,000 cfa (approx a million dollars). Then, explain to them what it means to 'be creative' and remind them that a paragraph is not a list. Then remind them that this is not group homework and that I should be receiving 50 different paragraphs, not the same one copied 50 times. Wait until the next class, collect their papers, and among all the randomness about buying motos and calling parents this is what you might get:

"If I had 5,000,000, I would had visited Mme Kristin house in USA and I would have got in mariage her sister. After The mariage I would not have let her suffer from any danger. Arrive to our country she would not have returned to USA and I would have taken her the audience to see our president of republic." (authentically replicated with typos and grammatical errors intact for your reading pleasure)

Hilarious. Luckily for him I was too pleasantly surprised while reading this that it wasn't until later that I got mad at him for obviously NOT following my lesson about the correct tenses to use in if clauses. I let my sister know about the proposal right away but she declined. Too bad, it would have been nice to have a sister in Benin so I could come back and visit often ;-).

P.S. Post office is still closed...Turns out the "replacement" for the normal lady took about 50,000,000 cfa and ran. Great. After trying for 2 days to see the mayor who keeps going out of town, I threw enough of a fit this morning that they were like "oh, well there is the deputy mayor"...So I went to see him and although the mayor's office is next door to the post, nobody at the office had any idea of this closure. He was actually really nice and made some phone calls right in front of me although of course he didn't have any number for any kind of post office. What he did learn was that the post does actually know of this closure and they are doing an investigation. I said I just wanted to open the door and get my packages and he said that's not possible because the justice officials are involved and I have to wait until they complete their investigation. So, I'm assuming I'll get the packages sometime around July.

So, even after that long letter I had to write to get the post box in the first place, and even after all the sucking up I've done in the last 7 months to the lady who works at the post office so she wouldn't steal my mail (I bake her banana cake all the time), turns out that all means nothing now that 3 boxes are waiting in a back room with my name on them. Normal post lady is on a 3 month vacation in the North and she introduced me to her replacement a week and a half ago. Turns out he came to work last Monday morning to put a note in P.O. box saying 3 new packages had arrived, and then he put up a sign saying he would return at 3 pm. Well...over a week later the sign is still there and he hasn't been back. Oh Benin.

Because it's Benin there really isn't anyone to get in contact with about it. I stopped at a phone station next door and asked if they knew and the guy told me to be patient and wait out this week, "surely they'll send someone eventually," he said. So, my Dutch friend gave me the post lady's cell number and today I went to talk ask my friend who is the mayor's secretary about it. They hadn't heard a thing (even though all of the hospitals, NGOs, and schools in town have a PO box, I guess none of them have noticed or seem to care). So, if the man doesn't come by tomorrow I have an "appointment" with the mayor in the afternoon to inform him in hopes that he can talk to somebody. If not, I'll have to interrupt the post lady's vacation and possibly head to the regional capital on Friday to talk to the post office people there. If it's my thanksgiving package I need it!!!!!!

In other news...things are good. I've officially got 2 kids out 40 to send e-mails to their new US penpals. I'm basically going to be spending every afternoon for the next 4 or 5 weeks at the cyber teaching them how to use computers. So far so good though...

So, the government of Benin has this law that being a "full time" teacher at any public school is limited to 18 hours of work a week. 16 hours of class time (4 classes for 4 hours a week) plus 2 hours of the weekly teacher meeting. So, the full work week is considered 18 hours and they are NOT allowed to work more than this at one school. While they are happy to consider an 18-hour week a full time job, they are definitely not happy with the amount of money that gets them. So what all of the teachers do is take 1 or 2 classes from multiple other schools in the area where they are considered "part-timers". The results being as follows: my school has only myself and 2 other full-time English teachers, and between us we cover 12 of the 36 classes that need teachers. Every other teacher that 'works' there only has 1 or 2 classes.

In actually a great jump forward this year, however, the government now requires that both part-timers and full-timers attend the weekly teacher meetings. (Last year it was just me and my two colleagues discussing our few couple of classes and I never even met most of the others). It's really encouraging that they are demanding this, and this year they also limited the number of schools a professor can work at.

So, this past week we had a bunch of these new part-timers attend our weekly English meeting for the first time. These meetings have been really productive so far this year, and next week I'm leading a session on visual aids. It seems like they want me to be leading most of the sessions, but I'm trying to get them to present their ideas and strategies as well. Anyway, this past Thursday we were just getting the newbies up to speed and I told them that we already discussed how important it is for us to only speak English in the classroom, and not give in to students' demands to speak in French. Of course the responses were mixed.

It's easy to look at them and see based on their comfort level if they really can speak English or not. One man (who didn't look so comfortable) raised his hand and responded (in French), "please, I respect what Madame has said, but when I talk to my second level class they refuse and refuse and refuse." Then we asked him what class specifically and it turns out it is a class I had last year as complete beginners, and all they got from me was English!! Immediately I said, "no no no!! That is impossible, those kids follow directions very well in English and understand perfectly." Then he went on to say that when they pronounce the verb "to be" they incorrectly say "I'm, you're, he's...etc" and I was like..."Of course they do! I teach them that in reality we speak in contractions, and they learned from listening to me". I then went on to explain to all of the teachers that speaking in English to their classes does not mean giving 15 minute monologues, but rather, short, quick instructions- "copy! finish! listen! repeat!"

Anyway, so after all of this I was still a little sad about my previous class now demanding French and refusing English. But that afternoon, as I was preparing for class with a first year group I'm teaching this year, about 15 of the now second years walked up outside my door. I walked over and said hello, and then joked with them (in French) that I was very mad! "How can you refuse English?" I scolded. "Madame, Madame, no!! He can't speak! He makes no sense and we need you to come back and teach us!" Then they asked me why I didn't follow them to year 2 and asked if I could switch. Then, to my crazy surprise, they told me they would come in every Saturday if I would do make-up classes with them. Since I'm in the capital this weekend, I told them that couldn't work, but that occasionally I'd be happy to work with them, and especially right before exams.

Then, just to reassure myself that I did a good job, I made them all stand there and repeat the conjugation of "to be" for me. Indeed...they do still remember it correctly...thank god! Then I promised them that I'd come visit their class this Monday morning and watch their new teacher. Afterwards I'll hopefully be able to give him some pointers about communicating better with them in English and hopefully seeing me will encourage the students as well.

All in all my students' little visit made my day...and while I do sort of feel like I abandoned them this year, I'm also having lots of fun with my new first years. I don't necessarily regret it because I'm glad I can get another group of kids off to a good start...even if I can't control who will come in the years to follow me...

Just a quick update...the short hot season, papaya season, and cockroach season are all beginning...

With the new school year I will TRY to write more often!! I apologize to everyone and especially my mother, since she's been bugged by so many of you about it for months! Believe me, she reminds me your waiting and has told me to write every week. (Lana, too!)

Anyway...I titled the first lesson in my lesson planning book this year "and so it begins..." And so it has. Last week was my first full week of class and it's already soooo much easier than last time! I'm teaching two classes of first years (6eme) and one class of 5th years (2e). For the 6emes I've already got all my lessons from last year and they're still so shy and unsure since secondary school is new to them. Those two classes each only had about 35 kids last week though, so I'm hoping that this week they should be up their normal levels of about 65. One if my 6emes even has 8 of my kids who failed from last year, which is absolutely fantastic. Of course they already understand all of my instructions and all of the others are catching on very quickly. I feel like it will be a real advantage that we can hit the ground running and move quickly past technicalities. It's also so exciting to see these 8 who were so shy and unsure last year being so engaged and proud of themselves for not being the slow ones anymore.

The 5th years will be the real challenge this year. Although they are only in the 5th level of high school, most are probably 19 or 20 years old and my cutesy baby techniques of 6eme obviously won't be so applicable. In some ways it is nice that they are more serious about their studies- 67 showed up the first day, 69 the second, and over 75 yesterday. I have also been very impressed by the amount of English some of them know. The real struggle, I think, is that some are great or right where they need to be, and others need a complete return to my first level class because they haven't got a clue (and/or don't really want one).

The other really interesting thing about teaching this class is that I'm not doing it alone. I'm "team-teaching" with one of my English colleagues. It's a process that Peace Corps urges us to try in order to share strategies and teaching techniques. As of right now, things have been going well with my colleague while still of course necessitating LOTS of patience. I'm perfectly aware that I am just as dependent on him as he is on me, and since it's the beginning I'm really the fish out of water. Until last week I didn't have any idea what the present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, etc. etc. etc. were! He has his lessons from previous years to help guide us through our tense review right now, and I've been studying!!!

Yesterday was the first day I really led a lesson (although it was review), and although I was really nervous about how the students would react to me, I was overall really pleased and felt respected. I also felt like they responded well to my activities. I'm starting to envision technicalities as his specialty and activities and applications as mine. It's difficult for both Beninese teachers and students to think outside of the box in terms of creative activites and critical thinking in the classroom, so I'm looking forward to the challenge of tapping into some of that dormant creativity.

In other news, I've got big plans for year 2!! I'm going to be starting up a geography club at school for the younger kids. We'll begin talking about Dogbo and Benin, but quickly move onto geography of the world (most people here have never seen a map). Then every week we'll learn about a different country, which will be awesome because it means guest speakers! Between my Peace Corps friends and other volunteers in Dogbo I've already got people to talk about France, the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, Greece, Peru, China, Japan, and obviously I might be able to say a thing or two about the U.S., hehe. So yea, I'm hoping to start next week...I'll keep you posted!

Also this year I'm establishing an e-mail correspondace program between older students here and a 4th grade class of a friend back home. They have about the same level of writing skills and it will be great to teach kids here about computers and the internet.

Outside of school, I've recently become involved with helping a local orphanage build a water resevoir with funds from the US embassy. I'm also in charge of planning a large annual fundraising dinner for Peace Corps Benin's gender and development (GAD) program. It will be taking place in May down in the capital of Cotonou. We generally invite a lot of ex-pats and Cotonou professionals to come to our dinner/silent auction to help out and learn about our GAD initiatives. Our kick-off meeting is in 2 weeks and we've already got a lot of interest from other PCVs to help out, so hopefully all will go well!

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, I'm going home for Christmas!!!! I'll be arriving Dec 17th and leaving Jan 6th, and I hope to see everyone in those three short weeks!!

Love and miss you all! And I'll write again soon!!

** this was supposed to be posted about 3 weeks ago when I wrote it, but internet has been down in Dogbo, so it's been a little delayed**

Well, I made it! Part of me is so proud and relieved I made it through my first year but another part of me wishes we had 3 months left because there's so much material left to cover. In the last few days of school I did smile when I realized how far my first years have come since the very beginning. They were writing full sentences with subjects and verbs and compliments and everything! Not all of them of course, hehe, but many! I don't feel anywhere near such progress with my second years, but I think that's a combination of poor and unuseful curriculum along with their behavioral problems. Oh well, I already talked to my counterparts and administration and I don't have to take that level next year!

In other news, since internet has been down in Dogbo I haven't been able to update as often as I would have liked. One fun adventure recently has been visiting some of my students' parents. I'm taking 10 girls to a summer camp we're organizing at the end of June and I needed to get permission slips signed. Of course for some parents I also needed to convince them to let their daughters leave with me. Unfortunately, one of my brightest girls refused my invitation and wouldn't even let me try to convince her parents because she thought they'd never accept.

The visits to the other 10 girls' houses were really varied in a lot of different ways. Some were a 2 minute walk from school, most about 10 or 15, and for one we had to walk down the "highway" for 45 minutes to get to her village 7 km away. Amazing that she walks it 4 times a day in extreme heat or pouring rain with taxis, motos, and trucks flying by. Some of the parents were young but some were very old. Most of them (especially the older ones) spoke no French at all and we used another family member as a translator. Some invited me into concrete houses to sit on a couch, while others pulled out a wooden bench from a mud hut. Interestingly, the younger they were and the more French they spoke the more questions they pressed me with and the more worried they seemed. I think the very old ones were just amazed to see a foreigner in their homes and willing to trust me with anything. One man got confused for a bit and thought I was taking his daughter all the way to the US. He seemed a little disappointed after that, hehe.

Overall, it was really fun and I feel like I understand each of my girls a little bit better. On the walks out to their houses we also passed lots of my other students' houses, who were both shocked and excited to see me. I think next year I'm going to encourage my students to invite me over to meet their families. I'm not sure how yet, but I'll figure something out.

On a sadder note, I learned a few weeks ago that one of my students died. His name was Doris. I had missed several weeks of school in April due to sickness and other Peace Corps obligations. My first day back, the kids were working quietly on an activity and I was silently taking attendance. When I said aloud, "Doris is absent," one of the boys closest to me just said "No, he died." So non-chalant, like as if he was saying, no, he's with the principal, or yea, he went to visit his uncle for the week. I kind of just paused and stared at them with my mouth wide open. "What??" I said. "Yea," a few replied, "he died." Most of them didn't even look up from their activity to partake in the conversation, but I think some who did were a little surprised by my response (as I was by theirs). It was as if they didn't know whay this was so hard for me to understand. I asked how and a few merely replied "mal au tete", which is basically "his head hurt." Hellloooo....that could mean 5 million things! I mean I guess I know it wasn't an accident or something. But yea, I think in my moment of shock someone was trying to comfort me by saying, "Yea, he was here Monday and Tuesday, and then never came Wednesday because he died."

I mean, really. It was just crazy. In truth I wasn't completely shocked by the death because Peace Corps warns us that students often die. I've even heard others talk about losing students this year (one had a "sick finger"). But of course it was/is still sad nonetheless and just as much shock comes from the students' response as from the death itself. I don't even know if the school officially announced it to them or if it just got around by word of mouth. But yea, I guess now I understand why at the professors' meeting at the end of every semester they announce for each class how many started, how many passed, how many failed, and how many died. What a different world.

It’s been a busy few weeks. About 3 weeks ago I had the most exhausting and arduous Peace Corps workshop I’ll ever have, with 3 very full days of English textbook revision and re-writing. As I mentioned before, myself and 3 other English teaching volunteers were chosen by our boss to work with inspectors from the Ministry of Education to revise the current English books.

A few years ago, the Ministry abandoned the externally published books they were using and wrote new English books from scratch. They sought to make the program more student-based and less strictly structured with grammar and vocabulary. They never had native speakers edit the books, however, nor had any of the writers (Ministry of Ed inspectors) ever been taught in a classroom based on student practice and critical thinking. Additionally, we learned by working with the inspectors in Porto Novo that they can’t decide on any particular pedagogical ideology and there is no authority among them to develop and enforce one. As you can imagine, the books that were developed have huge inconsistencies, curriculum gaps, and typographical/spelling errors galore. They’ll have a dialogue presenting “can/can’t”, but no explanation or activity following to help students understand and practice. On the few occasions where a vocabulary list is actually given (rather than just random words dispersed in texts throughout the chapter), one often finds the word “etc…” at the end of it…meaning what, exactly?!? No idea. Good news though, we took those out.

The group at the workshop consisted of the 4 volunteers, 2 Beninese Peace Corps Education staff, and 3 inspectors (rather than the 7 who were supposed to come). Us four volunteers arrived in Porto Novo with no clue how much liberty we’d be given to basically re-write the books rather than just edit the abundant spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Well, since the four of us were the majority, the native speakers, the ones who have used real language textbooks, and the ones with real teaching experience in the nation’s villages with the current books, we kind of just took over and got to do much more than we expected. (Not to mention that our boss purposely chose four of the most opinionated young women volunteers unwilling to be disrespected or ignored any Beninese man). There were many discussions trying to discern and clarify exactly what approach the books were trying to take in the classroom and we really tried to understand and respect the original intents of the authors.

Then we split into 3 groups one PCV paired with one inspector to take and revise each of the three levels we were trying to edit. After nine hours my counterpart and I covered less than 30 pages. On day two, we abandoned the first and third levels to focus solely on finishing the second level because it hasn’t gone to press yet (the other two levels went to press last year full of errors). So, then each group worked on parts of the level and we decided to group edit at the end and allow for only major changes to be discussed. Then each editing group was given final say on its section (basically meaning that all was up for quick discussion, but we couldn’t allow the inspectors to get into a 30 minute discussion about everything and in the end we could veto it anyway). I say we took over, but the truth is that we actually proved ourselves to be pretty culturally adapted by being able to talk them into what we wanted. The key – make them think it’s all their idea and what they meant to say in the first place. Some individuals and topics proved more stubborn than others, of course, which is where my amazing boss stepped in and worked her magic. It’s an art really, and it took me a whole day and a half to realize that even if she pretended to be angrily shutting up one of the volunteers in an argument, she’d then just go on to calmly argue their point in different words and the inspector would agree every time. She’d show that she was deferring to the inspectors’ authority and in that she/we would no longer have to defer to their opinions.

Anyway, so by the end of the three pain-staking days we were all stir-crazy and slap-happy, but we mostly got the job done. If the files hadn’t been so corrupted and in Microsoft 95 format we could have finished completely. But since we’d lose 10 pages of updated changes at a time, it took until Monday to get all of our edits into the computer. But it’s done!! And hopefully next year all Beninese schools will have 50 copies of our revised manuals. The truth is that they still have light years to go and we’d need 6 months and experienced writers, but it’s still a huge step and I’m honored I got to participate.

As for the other two levels, yours truly has until the end of June to finish level 1 all by myself and then submit it to others for edits. Not gonna lie, really excited I can have the time, liberty, and access to my own lesson plans to do a major overhaul. But at the same time I can’t help but feel underqualified and overwhelmed. They just decided to end the school year over 2 weeks early (ridiculous Benin) so I’ll have time to get working soon. Only 1 week of class left!

She's basically the cutest (and cleanest!) Beninese baby ever p.s. notice Jasper's friend the goat in the background, I'm happy to say he also made it through Easter and is still with us

Every Sunday morning that I'm out walking somewhere in Dogbo I always disappoint someone when they ask if I'm going to mass and I say no. Of course I don't know how they really feel about that response, but sometimes if they're going to or from mass themselves I feel I've especially let them down. When I feel really bad I explain that I'm Orthodox and they don't have my church here. I don't know if they've ever heard of it (probably not for most), but they understand the idea and accept the excuse. (Good thing I'm not posted in Eastern Europe or else that wouldn't work so well...hehe...)

But even though this past Sunday wasn't my Easter (which was also very interesting to explain to people), I thought it would be fun to bring a little bit of American tradition to my Catholic neighbors. So, the kids and I decorated Easter eggs and then they went on an Easter egg hunt in the front yard! The idea just came into my head a few days ago an I'm so glad it did because it was both easy and fun. Of course I had no egg dye so I spent Saturday trying to creatively come up with colored water to dye them. Well, neither colored frosting diluted in water nor bled markers did the trick, plus the eggs are brown, making it harder. So, in the end I just invited the 4 kids in to sit around my table (which would have been enough since I've never even done that before) and we drew on the eggs with markers.

At first they thought I was crazy but then they really got into it. The 9 year old boy, Jueslin, drew a great chicken and egg on one while the other kids were mostly just randomly scribbling. I even asked the 15 year old boy who was over doing my laundry if he wanted to join and he got so excited. He took a good 15 minutes to decorate his egg. I myself had forgotten how fun egg decorating can be, and I must say, some of mine came out super cute :-).

Anyway, so then I sent them home and told them the next activity would be in half an hour. Their mom knew I was going to hide the eggs, so she shut the windows and locked the door. I hid some in plants, others behind rocks or boards, and then others I sort of left in more plain sight. When I was finished they eagerly came to my door awaiting instructions. As they walked up, the 6 year old girl spotted one and pointing to it she said, "Kristin, it has fallen!!" "No!" I said, "it's not fallen, you found it!" Then I explained that Gloria had found the first one and they had to find 11 more. Jueslin is the only one who clearly understood I think, and the others just followed him for most of the hunt. Gloria found a few as well. Papa picked up 3 and I had to yell at him to stop because this was for the kids! As it began my other neighbors came out and were eager to watch and help count down as more were found. They even helped their 1 year old baby girl find one by their door. After about 20 minutes all the eggs were found and everyone had had a good time. Then I sent Jueslin to give all the eggs to his mother, which was actually a very big gift because eggs are quite expensive.

Well, after the hunt I explained to the kids that a big bunny had come and delivered me gifts for all of them. I received an Easter package about a week ago with a little pink bunny basket, fake green grass stuff, and jelly beans. So I stuffed that full and let each of the kids take a big handful of jelly beans and other candy. Then I sort of tried to show them the book of Peter Rabbit (which also came in the package), but since only Jueslin speaks basic French, they just sort of looked at the pictures and didn't say much. Either way, I know they enjoyed it all because a few hours later Jueslin excitedly asked if there were more Easter activities I had to share. Sadly I said no, but I can't wait to do it again next year!

In other news, life's been pretty alright. Jasper has been sick for 2 weeks now which has been exhausting, frustrating, and expensive. He seems to get a little better everyday, but he's still far from his old self. I'm also a horrible mother, because I left him at the vet tied to a tree for 2 weeks while I travel to the capital to attend 2 different Peace Corps workshops. The first one this week is myself and three other volunteers working with people from the ministry of education to rewrite the national English books. It's actually a big privilege and opportunity, and I know it's going to be a week full of hard work and likely quite a bit of frustration. To reward ourselves at the end we're going swimming on Saturday at the ambassador's pool and then I'll be in an eco-tourist village called Possotome visiting a fellow volunteer until Monday. He's actually Greek Orthodox too, so we've got plans to pull out some Easter traditions and have a big midnight feast! Then next week is a big workshop to plan summer training for the new volunteers. I can't believe they're coming in 3.5 months! Anyway, by the time I get back to post I'll have only 3 days of teaching in April and then just through May til the end of the school year. Crazy how time flies!

It's been a rough week and a half. As most of you have probably heard through the grapevine or seen in the news, a volunteer was killed last week here in Benin. It was a shock in so many ways that it left me numb for days, and of course confusion and fear and anger still linger on.

The first shock came of course just with the new that she had died, without any details about how or when. Kate was honestly one of the most inspiring, genuine, and loving people I have ever met. She was an English teacher who arrived the year before me and she spent 5 out of 8 weeks working with our group during training. For 3 of those weeks she was assigned to watch and guide me in model school. It was Kate who taught me how to be a teacher. Her compassion, patience, and wisdom were immeasurable, and of all my fellow volunteers here, I looked to her as the one who I could always rely on for an empathetic ear, a calming smile, and encouraging advice. Along with the recent, unexpected deaths of two close family friends at home, it's been hard for me to cope with the fact that people so full of love and life can so quickly disappear.

Beyond the grieving and sense of loss, the second shock came 24 hours later, when it was announced to us that her death was not an illness or traffic accident (as most of us had expected). Rather, we learned that she had been intentionally killed in her home. I still struggle to bring myself to use the word murder.

It was and is a shock because Benin is not a dangerous place. Dogbo is safer at night than the streets of Chicago, and I do feel very protected by my neighbors and community. As much as white foreigners might sometimes be high targets for pick-pockets in bigger cities, the truth is that 99% of people really watch out for us. I constantly even get childish warnings about crossing the street or eating random street food. Of course now I'm a little uneasy as I take my morning jogs or have my door open in the evenings, but I think it's only natural -- like getting back into a car after a bad accident.

We've been given permission to travel as we'd like to be with other volunteers or even interrupt our service to go home to the U.S. for a while, but I only wish to be at post and return to daily life in Dogbo. Yes, our trust has been broken and our sense of security deeply shaken, but I think for me personally the choice is to start rebuilding it as soon as possible. Many of us will never be the same, but if Kate were here and we'd lost someone else, she'd be the first to inspire hope and understanding, and the last to harbor anger or blame.

In an article posted on ABC.com, Kate's parents commented that Kate loved it here and they don't want anyone to look at West Africa as violent or dangerous. I admire them so much for the wisdom and courage it took to make such a statement, despite their tragic loss. But then, I would expect nothing less from the parents of such a wise and amazing young woman. My heart goes out to them, and all of her loved ones around the world. Please know that we grieve with you and I'll never forget how her eyes twinkled with her joy for living.

I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who has sent myself and the other PCVs in Benin so much support. Current and former volunteers all over the world have contacted myself and others to let them know that we are in their thoughts and prayers, and it's nice to know that although our Benin Peace Corps community is so hurt, the rest of the Peace Corps community is right there with us.

No....I didn't get a kitten...but I did find a suuuupppeerrr cute one in the back area of my postmate's house while she was on vacation. I went over to water the plants and when I opened the back door I almost had a heartattack when the little thing tried to hop into the house. I have no idea how it got there, because she has 8 feet high concrete walls and the kitten is literally so small I really doubt it could have gotten there itself. Especially since I went around asking all the neighbors if they had a cat or kittens and they all said No. So I think someone might have thrown it there knowing she has another cat and might keep it.

It fits in the palm of my hand and as you can see from the picture with Jasper it's tiny (and Jasper's gotten so big!) I'm not gonna lie, it's so cute that it took a lot of strength for me not to take it home and call it my own. But then I came to my senses and realized I've never had a cat and wouldn't have a clue what to do, and I also just had to remember how horribly stressful a new puppy was and then I got Jasper. Sooo....no kitten for me! I just kept visiting it everyday, bringing it food and water and I even gave it a bath. Kind of sad I won't be keeping it, but thank goodness she asked me to water her plants!

Sorry, I know that's not very interesting in terms of Benin and another culture and stuff...but it was the highlight of my week for sure :-). And the pictures of it with Jasper are just toooo cute!

Friday, February 21st, 2009

To: Mr. Receiver of the Post of Dogbo Object: Request for a Post Box Mr. Receiver, I have the honor of coming very respectfully to solicit from your high benevelonce, a post box in Dogbo. In the hopes of a favorable follow-up, I want you to receive, Mr. Receiver, the expression of my distinguished sentiments. Sincerely, Kristin SulewskiUS Peace Corps Volunteer This has been translated for your reading pleasure because when the lady at the post office told me I had to write a letter requesting a box, she gave me one from another man to copy and this is what I wrote. Of course I just copied and handed her the paper and she handed me right back a key. No clue who this "Mr. Receiver" is. Anyway, the bigger news is that I got a post box in Dogbo! Here is my new address: Kristin SulewskiB.P. 124Dogbo, BeninAfrique de L'Ouest/ West Africa Some people have already sent me stuff to my friend's box and it seems to work just as quickly as mail that goes to the capitol (both letters and packages...*hint hint*). Can't wait to hear from you!

I know, I know. Long time no write. A combination of writer's block, power outages, faulty internet connections, and bad moods is to blame. Coming back to Dogbo after the holidays was especially difficult. Two weeks filled with fun and lots of companionship made the return to post seem especially lonely and isolated. Moreover, I've been at post 5 months now and the truth is that the novelty is most definitely wearing off. The month of January was the realization that this is not some adventurous extended vacation. This is my life for the next 20 months. I don't mean that in a negative way, just that it's all pretty routine and mediocre nowadays. The big difference between here and home is not the 3 inch cockroaches or the 100 degree heat, it's the fact that I'm basically just alone -- a fact reinforced by my neighbors deciding to hate me and scream at me because of my dog. There hasn't been screaming in a few weeks, but now it's mostly the silent treatment. As awkward and unforunate as it is, Jasper is fantastic and he's not going anywhere.

Now that that major storm has passed, I'm in better spirits and able to sit down and write a non-angry or pessimistic blog for you :-) . Interestingly, life at school has really helped me get through my funk, both because it got me into a routine again and also because the kids actually seemed to be much better behaved after the holiday break. I'm happy to report that I feel like classes are going really well (well, 3 out of 4 anyway...one class continues to be uncontrollable and uninterested and they are quickly falling behind :-( ). As of this week the first semester is officially over, and the averages in all but the worst class were well above passing. I can't believe the year's half over!

And now for a blog worthy story- about two weeks ago, my first years were learning family vocabulary and I decided to bring in pictures of my own family. Not only was it a great reinforcing activity, but of course they were jumping out of their seats to catch a glimpse. I purposely started with the basics and moved up to what I knew would bring a big response. The parents were simple of course, and then many boys commented how they are going to marry my sister. On to the picture of the 4 siblings- my sister and my 3 brothers. Well, of course me standing next to a grown man..."Madame!!! Madame your husband?!?!?! Ooooooh" They were all yelling. As soon as I calmed them down and explained to their disappointment that these were my brothers, I brought out a picture of me and my nephew Michael. Uproar again. "Madame!!! Your son?!?!?!" No, no, no, I explained. Disappointed again. All in all they loved it and I enjoyed sharing with them.

Just as I was putting my pictures away, a very lovely boy by the name of Léonce raised his hand. Without any hesitation he said (in french), "Madame, madame, how come in all of your pictures from over there, you're so fat, and here you're so skinny?" He even used hand gestures to get his point across. Well, I just lost it and started laughing like crazy. The rest of the kids were laughing too, probably more at my reaction rather than his question. "You can't say that!!! You can't ever, ever, ever say that!!" I said, shaking my finger at him and still laughing. I explained that in our society thinner is considered better and it's very impolite to call someone fat. Of course being thin is the norm here in Benin due to diet and physical work, but being bigger is considered just as beautiful, if not more so. So, I explained that it's just due to a change in my food and because I exercise so much, and then I reminded all of them never to call a white person fat!!

(**note- while I didn't consider myself fat before, Léonce indeed is a very observant boy because I have lost over 20 lbs since arrival in Dogbo. I'm even shocked myself when I come across a mirror...)

OK...I know I haven't posted about Christmas and safari yet (which was amazing!!!), but since New Years was fresh on my mind I decided to write this one first!

After spending the week of Christmas surrounded by a bunch of yovos (white folks) I decided to celebrate New Years with my Beninese host family. It also provided me with an opportunity to go back and visit them for the first time since I left for post 4 months ago. Not really knowing what to expect, I mentally prepared myself for a potential 36 hours of boredom. Living with them for 2 months taught me that visiting extended family often means quietly sitting in front of the TV watching music videos with minimal conversation. Much to my pleasant surprise, this celebration was nothing like what I expected.

I arrived at my host sister's house around 8:30 pm on the 31st to find her and Maman busy in the kitchen and I anxiously began awaiting the arrival of the other guests. I assumed we'd have a big feast around 10 or 11 and then prepare for the big change at midnight. Turns out the other guests arrived at 2 and we started eating at about 4 am. Maman didn't even shower and change into her nice outfit until after 1.

In Benin, the entire celebration comes after midnight. Everyone stays at home with their more immedite family members until 12, and then they travel around visiting friends and family until the early hours of the morning. There is nothing resembling our anxious countdown clocks and huge parties before midnight (which makes so much sense now that I think about it, because time is such a fluid thing here and "being on time" at a certain hour doesn't really matter). At about quarter to 12 my sister passed out sparklers to the kids (there were about 6 including some visiting cousins), and much to my delight I got to play with them too!! I don't think I've touched a sparkler in about 10 years, but all the kids made sure that my hands were never empty. Shouting "Tata Kristin! Tata Kristin!" they sometimes were handing me two or three at a time. We were all so focused on the sparklers that I didn't even know when the clock changed to 12. A minute or two later someone said it and then a few fireworks started going off randomly around the city (no colors, just the big bang ones with white sparks). At some point my sister passed out sparkly masquerade masks and a few goofy hats, making for cute pictures and fun with the kids. One uncle even wore my sister's long-haired wig all night with goofy sunglasses. It made me smile to see the same type of family goofy-ness you see at home during the holidays.

Although I was beyond exhausted, all the playing with the kids helped pass the time until the guests arrived. Around 1:30 am Tata Kristin also had to take a little nap because I was so tired and of course the kids were not too happy about that. Anyway, our most important guest (Maman's big sister) did not arrive until about 3 am, so we had to wait for her to begin the feast. Before anything was ate or drank, her and Maman said a prayer for their ancestors and poured them a drink of alcohol into the ground. Then we had a pretty typical Beninese meal and when I headed to bed at 5:30 everyone was still hanging out on the patio.

While I may have been the first in bed, I was still the last to get up at 9 am. Of course there was another day long party to attend! We got the kids up and out, and I headed over with my sister around noon. It was at a cousin's house, and it was definitely the nicest house I've been in since I've been to Benin. Complete with a big kitchen, oven, fridge, and multiple bathrooms! I even got to ride in their new toyota to help pick up the whole roasted goat she had catered. Well, basically the whole afternoon was spent eating tons and tons of delicious food (including the delish chocolate cake I baked at home and brought along for them), dancing to everything from American hip-hop to traditional Beninese drums, blowing up crazy huge balloons, wearing more goofy sunglasses, and of course drinking plenty of alcohol. One of my favorite parts was just after dusk when the little girls invited me up to the balcony to tell stories. They told all sorts of things and I told the Little Mermaid. (Note- when you start telling a story in Benin, instead of "once upon a time", you say "my story rolls, rolls, rolls, and lands on..." and then you say the name of the main character). All in all it was pretty fantastic and it really made me feel like part of the family. When it comes down to it, the Beninese know how to party, and when I was ready to leave the morning of the 2nd at 9 am to head back to post, they were all still sleeping...

So...I've realized that most of the pictures on my camera from the last three months are of my puppy, haha...so here are two of the most recent. The second one is of Jasper and my adopted goat. My neighbors bought this little goat right before I got there, and because it's from outside, the other goats shun it and they leave it out of the goat pen (I also think my neighbors dont really feed it as much). Anyway, when I first got Jasper he was half the size of the goat and I was terrified whenever he went near it. Well, as you can see now he's about the same size and we've all become great friends, I even named him "our friend the goat". When Jasper gets hyper he loves to run and jump on the goat, although goats play by ramming their heads together, so then Jasper tries to get away before the goat gets him in the stomach. It's hilarious. Jasper's food comes wrapped in manioc leaves, which I've started feeding the goat, so he's not so shabby anymore. They even take naps together on the stoop! It occurred to me last week that the holidays are coming up though, and I'm gonna be really depressed if my neighbors feast on our friend the goat!! I'm sure they appreciate how I'm helping to fatten him up though...I'll keep my fingers crossed...

In other news, my birthday and Thanksgiving were fantastic. I was up north for a week long training with all the other English teachers, so I got to celebrate with a lot of people. The night of my birthday we cooked a delicious Mexican feast (brownie cake for dessert!) and had an 80s power hour, complete with the best 80s wardrobe you've ever seen. You cannot believe what you can find in the markets hear that people threw away in the states. Not only did we have leg warmers and off the shoulder sweatshirts, but full on prom dresses and very official looking shoulder-padded business suits. It was classic. Thanksgiving was just as fantastic, complete with giant turkey legs, stuffing, mashed potatoes (made by yours truly), sweet potatoes, and so so much more. All 19 of us sang amazing grace beforehand and after we went around the table and said what our experience in Benin has made us most thankful for. I said it was my education, but not just my formal education, more so the overwhelming amount of knowledge we have that we don't even realize and the fact that more is available at out fingertips (thank you google). The average Beninese person can't afford a newspaper or a book, or even read a map, let alone use a computer or time at an internet cafe. Anyway, after giving thanks we played a really fun get to-know-you-better game by pulling questions out of our watermelon cornucopia...good times!

About two weeks ago my postmate and I were invited to a Voodun Sunday mass by a young girl we know. It turns out it was in her concession and her father is one of the leaders of the group (like a priest basically). We arrived around 10:30 to find about 50 other people there. All of the women and many, many children were seated on rows of benches watching two fairly young men giving the sermon and leading the ceremony. Not more than 30 years old, the two men were wearing white and blue robes and standing/sitting at a long table. Behind them sat all of the men very calmly and rather uninvolved in the ceremony. By the end of the mass at 12:30 there were well over 100 women crammed onto the benches and probably about 30 men in total.

Upon our arrival they were in the middle of telling a story, which they then translated into French just because Katherine and I were there. The tale was as follows...There once was a king and a small group of his followers wanted to kill him. So they went to his cook and offered him money to kill the king, which he accepted. But, when he went to kill the king he couldn't do it, and instead he apologized to the king and told him everything. The first moral of the story was presented here-- if you are good and true in life (like the king) all evils will be made known to you by Voodun spirits and no harm will come to pass. Well, then the king had a big party, and again the evildoers approached the cook to kill the king and again he accepted. But once again, the cook couldn't do it and apologized to the king, telling the king to kill him and the evildoers. But the king didn't harm any of them or even seek out the people trying to kill him, because Voodoo will sort everything out in this world. All those with bad "gri gri" will get what they deserve in the end.

Next, they passed out a cola nut to everyone, which we had to hold only in our left hand. After a few minutes of standing while they praised the spirit to which we were about to pray (Tron), we all knelt down in the sand and spoke our prayers or fears or hopes or worries to our cola nut. It was so awesome to hear the loud murmur of everyone whispering into their left hands. After about a minute we returned to our seats and they collected the cola nuts so that they could be offered at the altar of the spirit to hear our prayers.

A few minutes later someone invited Katherine and me inside to see the altar and learn more about the religion. So... the spirit they worship is Tron, coming from the word "strong". Supposedly a white man came many many years ago and whispered his hope to a cola nut, which then came true. He deemed the nut "strong!" and I guess somehow it stuck? Not sure...anyway, Tron lives in the sea, so the colors of the "church" are blue and white. They offer him cola nuts because humans are too dirty to talk to hm directly. Because he lives in the sea, they also offer him water and a big hole in the ceiling above the altar allows rain water (from the sea) to reach it. The symbols of the church are also the star and crescent of Islam. This is because stars are bright, and where there is light, Voodun spirits are there and evil spirits cannot go.

As we returned to the service we found all of the women basically taking communion. They lined up down the middle aisle and moved forward to eat a small piece of cola nut and have a brown dot of crushed cola nut placed on their foreheads. This was no quiet procession, however. Loud drums and a choir led everyone in vibrant songs and all were dancing in sync as they moved forward down the aisle. Soon after taking their seats the procession began again (twice) with more songs and dance so that people could give donations to the church in a box at the front.

Somewhere in the break of all this one woman began sort of violently flailing with her eyes closed. She was escorted out by two women. We were told it was "the femme of Voodun", which could mean either wife or woman. Eitherway, she apparently "makes a scene" at every service, and this week chose that woman to temporarily possess. Not sure what happened to her after she was escorted into the building though.

After that lots of random people would go up to the front a few at a time to dance a little as everyone cheered them on. A few men joined in this dancing, but it was the only time I ever saw any of them participate in the festivities. Then an older man spoke for about 15 minutes and it was finished.

Overall, it was remarkable how the mass had so much in common with a Christian service yet so many differences at the same time. There was even something very similar to crossing oneself. The truth is of course that many of them also believe in God and likely accept some, if not all, Biblical practices. I'm not even sure if the spirit Tron is worshipped outside of Dogbo, which all just goes to show the fluidity and flexibility of religion here in Benin.

That's what my fellow Beninese professors were calling Barack Obama. "You will have peace now, you'll see," they assured me, "the terrorists, everyone, everyone will have peace. He is everyone's President and the world is happy!" While I doubt everyone in the world is suddenly pro-America, it's still amazing to think how in one day the international perspectives of so many can be transformed to optimism and activism. Not that the Beninese people are confrontational (they constantly remind me that they do not like fighting), but based on huge celebrations in countries across Africa and I'm sure the world, it's clear that many have found such hope in Obama's election. It's a little scary because it's a tall order for him and the U.S. to live up to, but it also shows the power of ideas. I've always liked the quote, "We can change things by simply believing them to be different". I think this is a perfect example. Obama hasn't done anything as president yet, but just the idea of him has inspired people to imagine and expect a better world. Even if he never did a thing, I think that inspiration could potentially lead to great things both at home and abroad.

While we'll have to wait and see what's in store for the world in the next 4 (and hopefully 8) years, for now it's amazing enough that the election is finally over and he won! Crazy that I met him over a year ago while volunteering at an early primary rally. That was so long ago! And although I was so sad not be with all my James Madison political junkies at MSU, I was lucky enough to watch 8 straight hours of CNN on satellite television. By chance I was in Cotonou (the capitol) on Tuesday for a PC conference and one volunteer arranged for about 12 of us in town to spend the night watching at the house of one of PC's administrators. Not only was it awesome for the TV, but also because her house was gorgeous, she had AC, and we had tons of delicious food to pig out on. I even used her oven to make Duncan Hines brownies...mmm!

It was also really great because she had some of her own friends over, including some fellow ex-pats but also Beninese people from the PC Bureau. One of our two PC doctors is from Ghana and lives right next door, so she showed up around 12:30 am to watch with us in her PJs. I spent a lot of time talking to her actually as I explained what all the different numbers meant and why NY, IL, and CA could be projected blue before a single vote was counted. She decided to go home in the middle of the night, but then came back 15 minutes later because she couldn't bear to miss it.

When it was finally announced at 5:30 am the Beninese were all cheering/crying as much as we were and during his speech I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. All day before on Tuesday strangers in Cotonou kept asking me if I had voted and I'd say, "yes, of course, who do you think I chose?" They all said Obama, but one volunteer told me she always got McCain because she is white. Well anyway, they were all just as eager as I was to stay up all Tuesday night to find out. I'm told that all of the major stations were giving very frequent updates in French and there were even some with continuous coverage. Since the elections people all over Dogbo have been giving me congratulations, and my host sister even called from Porto Novo to say "felicitations!" Of course it's all so exciting, but I'm also so relieved that I don't have to explain why he lost, because that's a conversation that would have come up a LOT!

Besides all the election festivities, my first trip down to Cotonou was fantastic. Everything is sooo expensive, but for a trip every month and a half or so, it's definitely worth it. The supermarchés are like Christmas. Too expensive to buy much, but nice to know it's there if I crack and absolutely need it! From Snickers to tortilla chips to mozzarella cheese (I bought a big piece!), they've even got packaged cake mixes, fajita sauces, and Bacardi rum :-). Like I said, super expensive, but I did buy a dark chocolate kit-kat, raisins, pringles, and thai sweet chili sauce. The restaurants in Cotonou are obviously fantastic as well. One day I had delicious chicken schwarma and hummus, then Tuesday night we got amazing pizza with real mozzarella cheese. Honestly I need to keep myself away becuase I'll spend all my money, but now that I've been there once I want to go back and try all the other PCV-frequented restaurants!

They showed up! This week each of my classes had atleast 55 kids and I was able to really get started. I have two classes of 6ème (first level) and two classes of 5ème (second level) and there's such a difference between the two! The 6ème kids are brand new to the school and English, so their mostly just scared right now. Most seem really engaged though and we've actually gone through all of my lessons faster than expected.

The 5ème kids, on the other hand, are much more difficult to handle for a variety of reasons. My first 5ème class on Tuesday started protesting in French when I was speaking and giving all directions in English. Then they were mocking me and talking so much I made them stand until they were silent and ended up waiting 20 minutes. After that things went much smoother, and much to my surprise my second 5ème class that afternoon was actually very respectful and well behaved. Another challenge I face with my 5èmès is that they only got halfway through the 6ème book, and I'm finding that review exercises are turning into re-teaching exercises. I'm hoping this week might move a little quicker and hopefully we can begin with some new stuff next week.

A very interesting challenge is a Nigerian boy in one 5ème class. Since they speak English in Nigeria, my class is basically useless for him. While he doesn't need the basics of 5ème, I know his more advanced English does need work, and although it's nice to have my own personal helper when nobody else understands, I want him to be challenged. So I'm really going to sit down and think about what types of things I can do with him. I asked him to think about it as well and whether he might like to write stories or read books or work on more advanced exercises. It's a fun opportunity to do something a little outside the box and I'm pretty excited to see what we come up with. I asked the other English profs if they've ever faced this and/or if they had any ideas. They didn't seem to understand the problem and so I left it at that.

This week was also the first meeting of the English dept. It's scheduled weekly from 10-12 on Thursdays (so we started at 10:45) in the "teacher's lounge". The teacher's lounge is an open cement platform covered by a tin roof in the middle of the school grounds. There is a large table and about 8 chairs. During breaks, teachers sitting here send female students to buy them food from the Mama's selling food at the school's entrance (I fully intend to do this with male students on occasion). Anyway, so at the meeting I found out there is a new female English teacher. This is her first year teaching and they told me I was in charge of teaching her how to teach the material. Now, this is ironic not only because I myself am a first year teacher, but also because we had just finished a discussion about how I won't be using the English book and they were a little upset by that. (Peace Corps encourages us not to use the book because they find that volunteers often create more dynamic and effective lessons on their own, and kids don't have books anyway). I'm pretty sure there is no experience or certification necessary to be a teacher in Benin, so I'm happy to help her get started, but it won't be at all helpful in explaining the rigid structures that profs here feel bound to follow. She'll also be teaching another 5ème class, so it'll be interesting to see how the two of us progress.

In other exciting news...word around town is "la lancée" (the tall one) speaks Aja! The French doctor who I take Aja classes with every week told me that someone at her church told her that, and I'm so excited! For one, it's nice that people are so happy with me for trying to speak and practice Aja, and for two, it's nice to know that people are saying good things. Dogbo is also in no way a village, so the fact that my Aja is getting around the town is a little surprising. I've still got a long, long way to go, but so far just practicing little by little has made me lots of friends and is a fun addition to marché visits.

Or should I say my first week of school?

The national school year officially began on Monday, October 6th, but as of yet, I'm the only professor at school to be holding classes. I showed up the first day at 8 am just to see what was going on to find the school yard empty. Over the next 2 hours, most professors showed up to pick up their schedules and mingle. As for students, there were about 15 around to check if they'd passed into the next grade (a good portion of kids can't predict if they'll pass or not after exams, and they find out the next year). Turns out the students are smart not to show up because the first week of school is reserved completely for manual labor. About 3 feet of brush has grown across the entire school yard (about 3 acres) and the youngest students are expected to clear it. The older students are smart not to show up because their professors aren't there anyway.

In the following days more and more kids were hanging around to clean but mostly to get their schedules. Tuesday morning I walked around to each of my rooms to write on the board when English class would be held. During the first week, profs write when they will be there and then the students must come to figure out their schedules. I asked the head of the English department when we would start and he replied, "Don't be in such a hurry! Next week maybe..."

The delay in the start is very much a self-fulfilling prophecy because the professors say, "well, the students won't come" and the students say, "the professors haven't started." So, I showed up Wednesday at 8 am w/a novel prepared to sit alone in my class just to get the ball rolling. Much to my surprise (I didn't have a lesson planned!), about 12 kids (out of 70) showed up to each of my two classes. After my initial shock and terror, my impromptu lessons on basic greetings went well, and I welcomed the chance to memorize a few faces and gauge their abilities. I was better prepared for my classes on Thursday, and again only had between 12 and 16 students. Even w/so few students, after an eight hour day I was so exhausted I didn't think I'd make the bike ride home!

After my classes I'd run into another prof or two sitting in the school yard and they'd say, "Oh, you began your classes?" Some with a slight smirk, others with a surprised but approving nod. I wonder if they think I'm being snooty or stubborn or just stupid. Regardless, the first few classes were an interesting test run and I really looked forward to 40 or 50 kids come week two.

Much to my dismay, I showed up this past Tuesday to find 2 students. Turns out the all the profs were having regional "formations" all this week to learn how to teach the material and nobody ever told me. That was extra obnoxious because I was incredibly sick but went to school anyway because I thought more kids would be there. :-(

So, the rest of this week I spent at the formation, which turned out to be really interesting. We practiced writing plans for different types of lessons (writing, listening, reading, etc.). We also discussed the fundamental goals of the lessons and how to build such skills in students. I found it very enlightening not just for the actual information I learned about skills development, but also to realize how such skills are often taken for granted as obvious in our own system and yet are very new to teaching and education here. For example, we spent four hours discussing and designing lessons to teach children how to identify a topic sentence. My foreign language teachers at home would never have done such a thing, because that was already done as a basic and essential part of English class. I realized that a big difference here is that every language in school is a foreign language. They are slightly more advanced in French, but French is still usually only begun in grammar school. Because most Americans already know how to speak English long before we enter an English class, we can move onto writing and reading skills much earlier.

Besides all the formal discussions and work, the formation was worthwhile because during our downtime (which was overly abundant), I got to start getting to know the other English profs at my school and in my region. In our boredom I taught some of them tic-tac-toe and dots, and during one short morning break the facilitator invited me up to teach a song. I offered a tongue twister instead, and it was pretty hilarious to hear 45 African men trying to say "How much wood would a wood chuck chuck..."

As for class, I've been assured they'll show up next week........

And now for the perfect story to sum it all up...

School starts on Monday, so this past Friday all of the teachers from two regions were brought together at a high school for a Journée Pédagogique- a day to reflect on a certain topic (chosen by the national education system) related to teaching and education. This year's topic was time management-- a very very fitting choice given that the school year was nationally extended a month last year due to strikes and teachers not effectively covering enough of the material in time.

So, as it was scheduled to begin at 8 am, I arrived at 9:15 and we began around 10:30. If you can believe it, thats a fairly good job on their part of getting things started. I moved into a classroom with all of the other (male) English and Physics professors, about 120 in all. We squeezed in three to a desk and began to work on small group activities. Our first small group activity was to read a short story about 4 professors working in a group to get things done for a deadline. One didn't show up, the other two didn't have their work done from the previous meeting, and the 4th needed them to finish their work on Tuesday because he had a tennis tournament on the weekend he couldn't miss. The groups were to discuss why tension might be rising in the group, what the causes of it were, and how it might be fixed. Although the activity took forever, I was bored to death, and you might think it completely pointless and obvious, the truth is that this was a very good idea for an exercise. I was slightly encouraged that the moral of the story- respect your group members and get your work done- might actually stick with a few of the professors in the room. If you're wondering why I might say such a thing, keep reading...

So...here comes the best part...Activity 2. Question 1- "what is time?" (weird question, but ok). Question 2-"What is time management?" Question 3- "Are you capable or incapable of managing your time? Why?" Now, when I read this question to myself, a perfect résumé response came to my mind that I'm sure we've all repeated at job interviews many times- "Yes, I have very good time management skills as can be seen by my work schedule and extracurricular activities." So, you can imagine my slight astonishment when a man stood up and announced that he is incapable of managing his time. It took me a second to realize that in fact he said we are all incapable of managing our time due to constraints and unexpected circumstances. Here again, I was a little surprised, and was slightly relieved when a man stood up to object. His objection, however, was that constraints and unexpected circumstances are not really different and one is merely the subcategory of the other. A 15 minute argument ensued, involving all 100+ men in the room. After that was finally settled (they can be different, but don't have to be), everyone was content to move on to question 4.

Now, when I entered this room and began working on this I had resigned myself to stay quiet, observant, and overall, patient. The one other woman in the room had spoken during activity 1 and although the room would not stop talking to listen to her, you could barely hear her speak anyway. I also didn't see the need to draw even further attention to myself, it was already clear to everyone that I was there. That being said, I couldn't let it go, and I had to raise my hand. The moderator had a huge grin on his face and asked me if I had a question. In the loudest, most calm, cool, and collected French I could muster, I said that I merely wanted to point out that we have all come here today to talk about our problems with time management and how we should work to fix them, thus I do not understand why everyone is content to say that we are completely incapable of managing our time. We wouldn't be here if we couldn't work to fix it, and therefore, I am not in agreement with the response."

The entire room erupted in laughter. I don't know if it's because they thought it was an idiotic and naive response, if they were just laughing because I'm a woman who voiced her opposition, or if because a white woman just told an entire room of men they were wrong and was correct in doing so. I like to think it's a mixture of the three. Anyway, after about a minute of laughter and chatter, the moderator calmed everyone down enough to address me. "Madame, madame, of course in the West, you are fully capable of managing your time. But here, of course you do not know, things are very different, and we cannot manage our time in the same way." (laughter and chatter). Much to his surprise I raised my hand again to respond. "I understand, Monseiur, that time is different here, I get it. I myself arrived at 9:15 this morning, not 8 am. I just want to say that the point of today is to talk about how we can better manage our time, and if you think we are incapable of doing so, we should all just go home." (laughter and chatter).

"Ok, Ok," he announced to the group, "listen, listen...you do not give a child an egg and tell them not to break it...you give a child an egg and tell them to be careful with it..." I have absolutely no idea if he meant that I'm the naive child with the egg of culture, or if they are the children slowly learning how to take care of the egg of time. I really wish I knew. Anywho, they ended up changing the response on the blackboard to "we are not completely capable of managing our time due to constraints and unexpected circumstances." As the group moved on I sat there completely content with myself and my response and even highly amused at the ordeal, regardless of its outcome. Not until later that night did I become infuriated at the entire situation and their willingness to sit in a professional setting (if you could call it that) and admit that it's beyond their control when they can't get their work done. Now I'm back to amusement. Overall, I think it was quite the quintessential Beninese experience and it's a lesson I'll always remember as I begin what is sure to be quite an interesting school year.

Wow, where does the time go? It's pretty incredible that I left home 3 months ago today, because I feel like I just said goodbye at the airport. Time's a funny thing here though -- the days are never-ending, but the weeks fly by. On the Air France flight to Benin we received a Toblerone bar, and I just ate mine last night. I never ate it because everyday I just thought it could wait until tomorrow, but then I realized that all those tomorrows have added up to three months! Not sure if it was out of a sense of accomplishment or stress, but I felt like I'd saved it long enough (and I'm hoping for packages with a replacement of chocolate supplies soon :-) ).

Looking back it's amazing how far I've come since those first five days in Cotonou when they wouldn't let us out of the building. Haggling the price for everything, riding taxi-motos, and even boiling our water seemed so overwhelming. Even though that all comes so easily now, moving to post really reinforces what the real challenges are and will continue to be. Among these are trying to find people genuinely interested in being your friend rather than just marrying you, trying to learn the local language, and just trying to get half an idea about how everything really functions around here. Existing here is not altogether that difficult, but really living here is going to take much longer than I thought. I don't know if that's because Dogbo is a bigger town, or because of the Aja culture that exists here, or maybe a lot of volunteers have the same sort of feelings. Not that I'm discouraged at all, but navigating the culture and society is just such a challenge that really can only be overcome with a lot of time, observation, and patience I think.

I was talking to the veterinarian the other day and found it strangely refreshing. I couldn't pinpoint why but later realized that for the first time I felt like I was talking to an equal. On a daily basis I feel like everyone is either looking up to me or down on me because of the color of my skin -- never is it a person addressing a fellow human being. They all think I'm rich, and atleast 5 men a day ask me if I'm "Madame" or "Mademoiselle" in the hopes that I'll marry them and take them home with me. "Madame," I say, "he's still 'la-bas' (there in my country), but he's coming soon." 1 in 10 people asks for either my money, something out of my purse, my jewelry, or just says "what did you bring me today?" There are people I say hi to who don't respond and many who mock my voice by speaking in an excessively high pitch. On the other hand, I can't wait anywhere more than 5 minutes before someone gives up a chair for me, I'm always given a fork and napkin even if everyone else is eating with their right hand, and I've already been on national television 3 times. So I don't know what it was about the veterinarian that day, something in the way he spoke to me, I guess. I just hope that with time and a better understanding of the local language I can hope to have these regular conversations with more and more people here and not have to constantly be reminded that they think of me as an altogether different type of human being.

The first three months being over, the next three will be filled with one of the biggest challenges of all -- school! Classes start on Monday and I'll be teaching 4 classes of roughly 7th and 8th graders (although ages will vary). Each class will have about 70 students dressed head to toe in khaki, which means I'm going to have lots of fun learning all 280 names and faces in the first few weeks. The upside is that I only teach Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, giving me weekends to relax, prep, and take short trips to big cities and to see friends. Currently I'm extremely nervous, but anxious to get started because I know it'll go just fine once we get rolling. It'll also be nice to have something to do! Of course I haven't started preparing my classes yet, but in traditional Beninese fashion, there's really no rush ;-).

Love you and miss you all...don't forget those letters and packages!!

Me and my puppy!!

The neighbors, Jueslin, Gloria, and Gladys with Jasper

A couple of the TEFL girls in our meme tissue at swear-in! They had special tissue designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary, and then each sector had its own color. It's really fun to see the self-expression that comes out when everyone takes the same fabric and comes up with something different.

Last night with the host fam in Porto Novo

I got a puppy! His name is Jasper and I bought him at the marché last Tuesday. They randomly sell kittens and puppies in the chicken section, actually, and their usually cramped in cages with them too. Jasper was in a small cage piled on all of his brothers and sisters, but the only one up and active. He is mostly brown (better to hide the dirt I think), with white paws and tail, and a black snout. The vet says he's about 8 weeks old, which is comparatively pretty old for the dogs and cats sold there (my friend Dennis in a nearby village bought a puppy that can't be more than 5 weeks old). I paid extra because he is older actually, but it was definitely worth it. He can already eat food and learn commands. He's so smart- after 4 days he already knows his name, "leave it", "sit", "come", and is basically house trained!

The first 48 hours were horrible. I was so back and forth about getting him in the first place. A lot of new volunteers around me have gotten kittens or dogs, so I was kind of peer-pressured into it. I was at the marché with Katherine (the other PCV in Dogbo), who has a kitten, and she really encouraged me to do it. Well, that first night as I lay awake for 8 hours straight as he cried, all I could think of was how I could get rid of him and all the problems I'd have if I kept him. My neighbors hated me the next day, the neighbor's kids pestered me even more (as if that could be possible), and he would not stop peeing. Well, luckily for him he's a quick learner, he no longer cries at night, he sleeps most of the day anyway, and he's so darn cute! He loves to curl up at my feet and sleep, which of course gets me everytime. I let him sleep inside last night and he actually didn't get into anything, so I'm feeling hopeful he's gonna stay! I also can't really bear to think about what his life will be like if I gave him away. It's so sad but so true that my dog will likely have more vaccines, more toys, and eat more protein than the average Beninese child. While I have mixed feelings about that, I also feel like the least I can do is suck it up and keep him.

Despite the first few days I was tied down w/ Jasper this week I've still just been trying to meet more people in Dogbo and explore little by little. A fellow English prof took me to 2 orphanages neary my house and I'd really like to work with them in the future, even just to drop by from time to time to play games with the kids. We also toured the surroundings village areas, which were breathtaking. Despite my pretty modern amenities in my own home, I've only got to go a few blocks off the main road to find all mud huts and people performing back-breaking work all day long. Quite often only children could respond to my French because older generations didnt go to school to learn it. There are such huge differences between ways of life here, my host family in Porto-Novo, for example, compared to the villagers of Dogbo, but there is also avery strog mutual respect between them. City people are very aware oftheir village of origin and often return to visit family still living there. I hope I can spend some valuable time in the villages on some sort of project, just to get better understanding of how that major portion of Beninese society lives.

I arrived in Dogbo on Monday, September 8th, which also happened to be marché day and thus a sign of good luck. After driving through the hectic marché and dodging all the Mamas walking around with baskets on their heads, the taxi headed up & up through Dogbo to my house. I've come to learn that my house is literally the last house on the outskirts of Dogbo, and when I take a right turn in the morning to go on my run, all there is the jungle, and people walking from who knows how far to buy/sell things in the market.

Anyway, so as the taxi pulled up my neighbors all excitedly ran out to greet me and help carry in all of my things. As soon as I unlocked the door, Mama from next door sent two girls in to frantically sweep all the dust that has accumulated in the 3 weeks since the last volunteer had been here. Then Mama and the kids started bringing all of my stuff inside. I think the kids were half trying to be helpful and half just trying to get a glimpse of all the complicated and exotic stuff the Yovo brought with her. It's amazing how leaving home with 80 pounds in the US means you're leaving your life behind, but when a 9 year old Beninese boy looks at your open suitcase, all he can say is that you brought so much with you, what could it all be for? It's also weird that my house is attached to two identical houses on either side, both with 5 people in them, and both with less furniture than mine (they do both have TVs though, which is an occasional special treat for me).

Yet, despite what one might consider my more privileged position from a more materialistic viewpoint, my neighbors help me out more than I could ever possibly repay them for, and its only been a week! When they hear me sweeping every morning (which one must do to keep up with all the dust and cobwebs that come w/having screens for windows), either a child or mama will come over and insist to do it themselves. "I need to practice!" I tell them, but they explain that this is their work, they are very good at it, and it's not hard for them. Mama also says she refuses to let me find someone to pay for my laundry because she can help me do it. I remind her that she has so much work of her own, but she kindly reminds me that I can't very well do it myself if I actually want it to get decently clean. Although I am determined to do it myself, I'm still so impressed by their willingness to help and it provides such a new perspective. Americans are so accustommed to thinking of these things as chores, rather than just the natural flow of the day. These are skills they are justifiably proud of, and while they're teaching me how to shop at the marché or sweep my dirt, it's also a big lesson on humility.

Mama has also been very helpful in the way of occasionally providing me with something delicious to eat. Now, at home, I consider myself pretty confident in the kitchen, but let's just say that my culinary skills in Beninese cuisine could use quite a bit of work. After 3 pretty horrible meals in a row --> thanks to too much boullion, undercooked lentils, and wayyy too much cayenne pepper, Mama cadeau-ed (gave me a gift) of delicious rice and beans that lasted for both lunch and dinner on Thursday. I was in heaven. I know I won't starve because there are plenty of places to buy street food and I brought lots of peanut butter :-), but I'm still pushing myself to cook every meal just so I can learn little by little. I've had much more luck recently, including a delicious okra and tomato stir fry last night!

I've still got lots to learn in the way of portion sizes, though, and even more to learn about how long fruits and veggies last unrefrigerated. I definitely threw out more than a few rotten things this week! I also threw out a tomato, an orange, and a wild apple when I cut them open to find worms inside. Sick! I'm hoping it was an unlucky streak, but I'll definitely be very attentive for the rest of my time here! While it's disgusting and a big inconvenience, I guess it's the tradeoff for getting completely fresh and organic produce. I watched a gardener pull my carrots right out of the ground and I ate them 30 minutes later. It was probably one of the most delicious salads of my life.

Well, other than trying to figure out how to maintain a house and a life on a daily basis, I've just been out every day exploring Dogbo and introducing myself to people. I defintely see why others consider this area a little tougher to deal with relative to other cultural areas in Benin. I'm constantly mocked and laughed at, which isn't really typical of most more rural areas here based on what I've heard. Although it can get frustrating, I've also met some really nice people, and my neighbors more than make up for it. I really look forward to finding some great friends here. School should be starting in a few weeks and I look forward to meeting the other professors. Hopefully a few of them will help me get more acquainted.

Lastly...since I'm writing on my blog right now, it's clear that I've found internet in Dogbo! It's a tiny cyber and I don't know that the connection is working all that often, but hopefully it'll be at least fairly reliable.

Every once in a while, you see a random foosball table sitting outside of somebody's house that you can play for 25 Cfa (about 7 cents). So yesterday I was out with 2 Beninese friends and, being the foosball competitor that I am, nonchalantly asked what they called it. They informed me that it's called "le bebe-foot" and asked if I wanted to play. It was kind of crazy because it was all made of wood and then the little men are actually steel. The table was kind of falling apart too, but I still managed to beat my friend 5-0.

Well after this little fun match, the two teenage boys from the house that owned the table got interested that a white woman actually beat an African man at something. So the two of them came out and both decided to take a turn against me, which really took no more than 30 seconds for the both of them before I scored twice. Wellll...let me tell you...they were shocked. So then of course, Papa has to come out to teach this yovo woman a lesson. He was actually pretty good and a formidable opponent, but I still managed to outscore him by quite a bit. By now there was definitely a crowd of about 12 people standing around, and as I continued on to beat Papa all of their laughter was just making him angrier and angrier. So then he demanded that we switch sides of the table. The other side was actually much worse, so he finally starting scoring more, but he also starting cheating by picking up the ball and moving it under his man whenever it was stuck somewhere and the men couldn't reach it. After he did it about 5 times I finally told him he couldn't do it and that it's cheating. Well everyone just starting laughing hysterically that this woman was calling out Papa on cheating and beating him at the same time. When he finally finished he just turned around and walked away, and everyone else was just eager to get to the table. In the end I have no idea what the final score was, but it was probably the proudest moment of my foosball career (except maybe for the first time I beat my brother Andrew :-) ).

So, I completely forgot to post about my "Fa" reading a few weeks ago. I got it during a visit to a traditional medicine center. The center was basically a mini-hospital, with a few rooms for housing sick patients, a consultation room, and then a pharmacy containing hundreds of powders, liquids, and gels for any health problem you can think of. The system was actually really formal and you can't get the medicine without consulting with a doctor (and maybe Fa) first. All the medicines are made locally from plants, and every traditional medicine center has completely different medicines created from local ingredients and practices. The doctors there aren't opposed to Western medicine necessarily (they send all urgent and surgical cases to the hospital), they just recognize this as another option. We watched a paralyzed man getting his legs massaged with a special gel. The doctors told us twice a day and he'll eventually walk again...Whether or not it works for everything, it was cool to see. The only thing that really disturbed me was when they said that they've got a cure for AIDS that only takes 10 months. We all just sort of sat there awkwardly at that point and shifted in our chairs...

Anyway, so in addition to the plant remedies to treat physical problems, people can consult Fa to learn of bigger spiritual problems. I don't completely understand Fa, but it's not a religion. My host family explained that it's more of a science, and the doctor explained to one group that "at the top there is God, and after him is Fa." I think the best description actually came from my dad in the U.S. when I tried to explain it to him- it's kind of like the force in the Star Wars movies. I think it's like the forces of the universe mixed with an idea of destiny.

Anyway, so you consult Fa by asking a yes or no question. I began by whispering this question (which I can't tell anyone) to 8 small seashells cupped in my hands. Then I dropped the shells onto a small wooden board and the reader interpreted them. Fa's first response to my question was that I am too independent from my mother and that she misses me, and that I should make more of an effort to be close to her (which of course she was very happy to hear). Then, I had to whisper to the shells again and ask the four cardinal directions if that was the complete answer to my question. Turns out it wasn't so I shook the shells again and the reader told me that I'll have much happiness in my life brought about by twins, so I should always be extra nice to any twins I come across :-). After I asked the four cardinal directions again, 4 shells came out face up and 4 face down, meaning that that was all. It's kinda crazy, because technically you could just go on and on for a pretty long time before you get the "that is all". Overall, it was really interesting to see, and I'm glad all my advice was positive (the girl before me wasn't so lucky :-( ).

This is a picture of Monica and me in meme tissue! Meme means same in French, and they call all the fabric here tissue. I've already got three tissue outfits made and I'm waiting for 3 more from the tailor, including my fancy dress for the swear-in ceremony next week! Going tissue shopping and designing outfits is one of my new favorite pastimes. In this picture Monica and I are both wearing modeles, which consist of a shirt and a long skirt, and are the most popular type of formal outfit for females. The skirts are sooo tight though, and tissue can get really hot. I've gotten a few Western style dresses made though, too...and I can't wait to have a full tissue wardrobe!

Also, as of today model school is officially over! We went over the test they took yesterday and then we had a day of games and songs. We taught 4 of the classes the song "joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me", then had a competition singing it in the school yard...so cute! Monday is our last day with them actually, we're having a big ceremony to give out prizes for the best students and good attendance. I'm so glad it's over because it has been exhausting, but I'm definitely going to miss the kids!

Life has been busy. We just finished our third week of model school and our schedule is really demanding- 3 hours of model school every morning plus our own language classes and lesson planning in the afternoon and evenings. The first two weeks I taught the equivalents of 7th and 8th grade and this week I was with the 9th graders in their 3rd year of English. In every class there's a wide variety of ages, sizes, and skill levels though. For example, in my class now there is one boy almost as tall as me and one who can only reach half way up the board. I feel so bad when I call on someone to answer #1 and then they can't reach it! Overall, model school has been fun and really helpful, and we share a lot of creative ideas. We teach the kids lots of fun games like hangman and simon says and so many random songs with the day's grammar lesson in them. From Mr. Postman to Rihanna's Umbrella to the Itsy Bitsy Spider, songs are always a great way to end the class when the kids have been good enough to deserve it. I can't wait to get to post and really start getting to know my own students!

In other news...we killed a chicken! Two weeks ago during our cooking class we killed, boiled, plucked, cleaned, and cooked a chicken to eat with peanut sauce- delicious!! I wasn't the one to kill it, our fellow trainee Claire did the honors, but I did help pluck and clean it. This past Saturday's cooking class was an Iron Chef competition between all the English teaching trainees. The secret ingredient was coconut and our protein was turkey. In two hours my team made coconut milk basted pulled turkey, garlic cheese mashed potatoes, and sauteed veggies. Our dessert was a coconut pineapple cake covered in banana chocolate frosting (made by yours truly). While that might sound mildly normal to you, after 8 weeks of Beninese food it was amazing! It was also actually really reassuring that I'll be able to come up with some great recipes out of nowhere.

This past Sunday I visited a stilted village just ouside of Porto Novo. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be, complete with a hospital, a mosque, and a couple of different churches. There must have been hundreds of houses as well. Most were constructed with straw and wood, but some (like the hospital and mosque) were made of concrete on concrete stilts with really nice wooden doors and shutters. Pretty crazy to see...

It's amazing how people keep all sorts of animals in their stilted huts. They've got goats suspended in little 4 x 4 pens carpeted with straw and even dogs and cats laying around in their huts. I honestly don't see the point in the dogs and cats since it's just another mouth to feed and they wouldn't kill them to eat. We were kind of confused about what they do eat, but obviously a lot of fish and boats from shore probably bring in a lot of flour. I took a ton of pictures but I forgot my camera cord at home today...I know you want pictures but they take soooo long to upload!

Done by my sister, Nora. Only took about an hour and a half!

Yes, that's a python. They are considered sacred in Voodoo. We were at the sacred temple of the pythons in Ouidah, which was also the major slave port of Benin.

Early last Wednesday morning I left Porto Novo w/my directeur (principal of my school) for a 3.5 hour taxi ride to Dogbo. After my first round trip taxi ride to Dogbo and back, let me say that I will never complain about being uncomfortable in a car at home again! I don't think I've ever even been in a car at home as old as the ones here. Yet, despite rain pouring through the roof and having 4 people in the back seat for 3 hours, the rides were generally pleasant because I was travelling with other peace corps trainees.

Upon arrival in Dogbo I was greeted by the administration and the board of the parent's association. The volunteer currently posted there (who I'll be replacing) was also there, as well as one of the two other female professors out of a faculty of 55. She is a French professor, and I'm really hoping we can become good friends. To maintain my professionalism, I can't really spend a lot of time with my male colleagues outside of school, so I'm looking forward to seeking out the few other females.

After taking a tour of my school and going out for lunch, everybody accompanied me to meet the mayor and the chiefs of the local and state police. I also had the good fortune of arriving on marché day (market day), which happens only once every five days. Although there is a small market everyday where I can buy stuff, the big market is just huge and chaotic with lots of variety! Lauren (the current volunteer) and I spent some time walking around the marché and I asked her the fair prices for just about every single thing I could see. I'll need to learn the local language of Aja quickly so I can more easily discutez prices w/the mama's at market!

The next two days were mostly just spent with Lauren walking around town and hanging out. She pointed out some important places- like her tailor and the pharmacy, as well as who will give me a fair price on toilet paper and which mama to stop at for good beans and rice. She also introduced me to a French family working at a local hospital and a Dutch couple in town with an NGO.

Friday was actually Benin's independence day, so we watched a ceremony with the mayor at a local moument and then a cute little parade. Actually, the only people in the parade were the state police, local women's organizations, and then all the local taxi/moto drivers. Quite the interesting assortment....hehe...

The parade ended by mid-morning and we spent the rest of the day relaxing and cooking cornbread for both of my neighbors. As you can see from the picture, I live in a concession, which is basically one building with a walled in yard. I have the middle house of the concession (so the middle door in the picture), and the people on both sides are so nice. Lauren said they always help her with anything/everything, so that's reassuring. Apparently both families love cornbread. Peace Corps gives us a cookbook and Lauren has prepared them other things like chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies, but I guess they don't really like it. The cornbread is such an easy recipe, but apparently they are baffled by it. They were so happy to hear that I know how to make it! I'm actually really excited to start experimenting with a Dutch oven and work out some good recipes. If anybody has any good recipes please send them along!

Anyway, overall, Dogbo seems pretty great and I can't wait for the next 4 weeks to go by so I can move to post and get started. Lauren is switching posts and moving to replace a different volunteer in a furnished apartment, so shes leaving almost everything behind. As you can see, it's a lot of furniture and shes leaving most kitchen stuff behind. It's so lucky for me because it makes moving that much easier, and maybe I'll use some of my move-in money to buy a couch!

As for the next 4 weeks...we just started model school this week, so I'm officially Madame Kristin!

I live with Maman, Papa, Nora, and 3 of my nieces, who are the three oldest girls in the picture below. They've been so patient teaching me how to wash my laundry, cook over a charcoal fire, and wrap my bumbahs...Which is the traditional dress that most of them wear-- basically just a large rectangular piece of cloth that you wrap around to form a skirt, then you wear a matching top to go with (I'm wearing one in the picture with the kids, but its kind of hard to see). Anyway, they've been so generous already, and they promised to come visit me at post! My dad is a printer, and I got to visit his workshop the other day. He literally creates copies by taking metal letters and arranging them in frames and then uses a large machine to press ink on the print and then onto papers. It's just like something you'd see in an old-fashioned printers shop from long long ago. It really was amazing to see, and after 25 years, he still loves it.This morning I read french fairy tales to my nieces for like 2 hours! The youngest one hasn't started school, so she doesn't even speak french, but she was still so excited. They call me "tata kristin" meaning aunt, and gives me lots of hugs whenever I come home from class. For my techincal training we're actully recruiting local kids on summer vacation to come to english class so we can practice, and I'll be bringing my oldest niece. Shes actually a year too young, but shes the top of her class, so I know she'll do great!

At the beginning of September I will be moving to the town of Dogbo! It's in the southwestern part of the country, about 3 hours or so from the largest city of Cotonou (so pretty close). I'm also very close to the border of Togo, so I'll be able to easily make a few trips there. Dogbo has about 4,000 people, so it's not really the small village I was hoping for, but oh well. The fact that it is in the South and a larger town means I will have relatively regular access to fruits and vegetables, whereas some people in the North wont at all in some seasons. I'll also be able to easily travel to larger towns and cities to buy basically anything. I don't think there is internet in Dogbo yet, but the nearby city of Lokossa has internet, and I think its about 45 minutes away by taxi, so not bad. I'll be expecting letters from everyone though!!!!!

I'll actually be replacing another English teaching volunteer in Dogbo, which is both exciting and a little sad. Exciting because I will inherit her house and most of her stuff hopefully (which I hear includes couches!) But its also a little sad, because I'll have to deal with peoples' expectations based on what her and other volunteers have done. Ooooh...also, I'll have electricity, running water, and even a toilet! Not gonna lie, definitely a little dissapointed about that...not the all-out rural I expected, but I have plenty of friends to visit around the country with those conditions, so I'm feeling pretty grateful :-) .

I'll be meeting my school principal tomorrow and traveling with him to Dogbo from Wednesday to Sunday, so I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

I was walking down my street today on the way to class when it suddenly occurred to me that there were goats and chickens randomly wandering around. Funny how after only 3 weeks that seems so normal. If a goat doesn't come up to my mid-thigh in height, it definitely does not even get noticed anymore. I'm still puzzled as to why they don't wander too far from home, but yesterday I did see a goat dodging motos on a main street. I didn't stick around to see what happened though...

The word road or street sort of begins to take on a new meaning here. Most of the main roads (what we might call busy streets) are either paved or bricked, but all of the side streets are just a red dirt/sand substance. Some are smooth (ish), but most are very bumpy with frequent rocks and puddles acting as barriers to both walking and driving. It's amazing to watch motos and cars figure out how to navigate them. It took me about 4 or 5 days to find the flattest, least rocky, least muddy streets around my neighborhood for my morning run.

I wake up around 5:30 or 5:45 everyday to hear the first call to prayer. It was so new to me that it woke me up the first few weeks, but now I generally rely on my alarm clock. If it didn't pour during the night (which it frequently does now that we're in a short rainy season), I try to head out at around 6:15 for my morning run. At 6:15 its still dark outside and it's actually quiet -- trust me, calm and empty streets are a rarity here, even at midnight. There are no goats or chickens or children out yet, just about one or two early risers outside sweeping their dirt.

Beyond the lack of usual commotion, this morning calm is also so precious becuase I don't have people shouting the word "Yovo" at me. The word "Yovo" is one I've already heard thousands of times and it's what they call white foreigners. All of the children know a little song that goes "Yovo, yovo, bon soir! ça va bien, merci!" (Yovo, yovo, good evening, I'm good, thank you!) Many older people also use yovo to address me on the street or to try to get my attention. I've been working on teaching the older kids on my block my actual name, so now I get "Bonjour Madame Kristin!" instead of yovo! It always makes me smile, and I can't wait to teach the kids in my village.

By the end of my run at 6:45 it's already completely light outside and the streets are filling up. Vendors are setting up their tomato or bread or candy stands outside of their homes and motos are starting to take people to work. It's always towards the end of my run that I get the first "yovo!" of the day. With that I know my little time for peace and quiet is over, and I get charged up for the day. Overall I'm so happy that I've been able to take these runs fairly regularly. Beyond enjoying the exercise, it's nice to just have the place to myself for those first few minutes. It makes me feel like I'm not such a foreigner, and like I have some time to really connect with this place, rather than be incredibly overwhelmed by it.

P.S. post assignments tomorrow!! and ill try to post pictures as soon as i can figure out how to do it!!

I know, I know, I'm a horrible blogger! In addition to being very busy without much time for internet cafes, the truth is really that it's impossible to know what to say. At first, everything was just so new and overwhelming that I couldn't even express it in words to myself let alone on my blog. Now that I've been here over two weeks I've been able to sit back and process this new environment a little.

When we first arrived, we spent five days in the largest city of Cotonou and since July 10th we've been living with host families in the smaller capital city of Porto Novo. I am the newest member of la famille Agossou, living with Maman, Papa, my 20 year old sister Nora and my three young nieces. I also have 2 older brothers and an older sister who no longer live at home, not to mention tons of cousins and aunts and uncles who randomly drop by all the time to meet me.

Here in Benin, there is custom called "saluer", which in French means to saluate, or give a salutation to someone. It is common practice to receive an unexpected visitor or even random quick phone calls and text messages. "Hello, Kristin?" "Yes, hello..." " Oh good, how are you?" "Good, and you?" "Good, just calling to say hello, goodbye!" The same goes for saying goodnight and good morning and everything. It can be a little overwhelming, but I think it's very telling about how kind and generous the Beninese people are. My host family have been so generous already, and although sometimes it's hard for us trainees to not have our usual amount of freedom, I think I'm beginning to establish a good balance with my own family. They even let me come to the internet alone by myself today!!

For the most part, we're all really lucky and happy with our host families despite some small frustrations. We've already lost 5 people out of the 64 who came, :-( but for a wide variety of reasons, none really having to do with our current living situation. In fact, we're being quite spoiled by training in a city. I'm pretty sure we all have electricity and the majority of us have toilets (including me!) and running water. While post will almost certainly have a latrine and a well, I think this is sort of a nice transition into it.

I get my post assignment on Friday, then next week we go for a 4 day post visit! I'm so excited to find out where I'll be posted in country, but of course anxious to know as well! All the current volunteers say that you end up loving your post, no matter where it is, so I'm not too worried about it;

Overall, things here have been great so far and quite an adventure. I haven't gotten sick yet (although of course its only a matter of time :-) ) and I'm learning so much everyday! I'll post again soon with more details of my daily life and of course my post assignment!

p.s. these keyboards are different, so please tolerate weird and random typos!!

Well, I've officially been in Benin for 2.5 days now, and loving every minute! Right now we haven't really seen very much, because we are staying in a large walled in compound just outside the city and we travel everywhere on big buses. There are about 10 current volunteers staying with us to help throughout training, and we aren't allowed to go outside anywhere without them. It's actually kind of reassuring that they don't just let us wander around until we get more information and guidance about how to handle ourselves and where to go. There are also a lot of other volunteers who keep stopping by to meet us and just talk to us about their experiences.

I know this isn't a really long post, but I've gotta be going because a long line is forming here. Once we can get out and head to a internet cafe I'll definitely write more and post pictures! I just wanted to let everyone know I arrived safely and everything is going great so far! Don't forget to check out my address posted on the sidebar and send me lots of letters and packages!! E-mail also works too, atleast until September!

Love you and miss you!

Well, after months and months of waiting, I found out about 3 weeks ago that I am going to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin!!! It's a small country in West Africa on the Atlantic Coast located between Togo and Nigeria. I leave for staging in Philadelphia on July 1st, where I'll meet with about 60 other Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) to get some basic info and vaccinations. Then on the 4th we'll all fly to Cotonou, Benin together.

For the first two months, we'll all be placed in homestays in the southern capital of Porto Novo and recieve time intensive training for language, culture, health and safety, and of course our jobs. In September we'll move to our official posts and I'll begin my two years as a secondary education English teacher!

The past few weeks since graduation I've been very busy at home in Chicago preparing to head to Africa. Although I'm leaving basically all of possessions behind, turns out I've had to spend lots of money buying new things to take with me. While it's exciting to get lots of new and interesting stuff and I definitely want to be prepared, it still feels weird to be spending so much money to move somewhere where I won't really have much at all, and my neighbors will probably have even less.

Packing has been made easier through facebook and other online communication with PCVs currently in Benin and West Africa. They say not to stress about it too much, and that most people overthink it, but I think focusing on packing and buying a bunch of random things is also a useful distraction from the things that will really be hard- like saying goodbye and how I'm going to have to change myself to fit into a new culture. Oh well...I'll deal with all of that in time, and figuring out how I'm going to fit 2 years into 80 pounds of luggage is enough to keep my mind occupied for now!

On an AMAZING note- while attending the MI-ACE Annual Conference in East Lansing this week, it was my job to shuttle two of our guest speakers back and forth from the airport. Turns out, one of them was a founding sponsor of an NGO in Benin that works to promote education and provide student scholarships!!! Her friend married a Beninese man and they started this foundation together. She called her friend for me, who was absolutely delighted to hear about me and can't wait to work together! She said their organization is already working with a PCV in Benin, and they'd be happy to help me out with whatever I might need!! I've got her contact information and I plan on calling her tomorrow to learn more about her organization and how we might be able to work together in the future. Basically, I think it's just a sign of the stars aligning and that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing with my life :-). That's cheesy...but it's reassuring.